The beauty and the band
by thegirlnextdoor101
Summary: AU, NCIS high school with a twist! When Ziva David comes to a very exclusive all girls secondary school in England she could not be more out of place. But a certain boy may chage her judgement... Will include McGee/Abby, Gibbs/Jenny and Kate/Ari *NOW COMPLETE*
1. Chapter 1

_**Hello!**_  
><em><strong>so this is my first ever fanfic! i was kinda nervous about putting this up and im not sure if i should upload the rest...<strong>_  
><em><strong>Please review and tell me what you think! :)<strong>_

_**thegirlnextdoor101 **_

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><p>The autumn air blew the trees as they moved the outstretched arms of the trees, causing them to strike violently against the windows of the second level of the school bus. Ziva David tugged self consciencely at the folds of her hideous new uniform, attempting to pull the grey skirt into something that resembled proper. With no success. Why did English high schools, or how they put it "secondary schools" always come hand in hand with hideous uniforms and bad weather. She felt stripped of her individuality, her dignity… and her various weapons that had been taken off her by her housekeeper. Damn Becky's sharp eyes. She could never get anything past her, not when she was a child in Israel, not now she was in her late teens. Life was unfair.<p>

Ziva felt a prescence behind her, then heard a clearing of the throat. Ziva ran through her options in her head. To ignore or not to ignore? She sighed and chose the first option.

"Can I help you?" she said in slightly accented English. Before her stood a girl who clearly did not have the kind of parents she had, ones that monitered her appearance before she left the house every single morning. Her regulation school skirt was a few inches shorter that normal, her green eyes lined heavily with black eyeliner and a sling bag with "MISFITS" printed on the side of it. So maybe the uniform rules at this school were not as strict as they seemed. Or this girl was the exception to the rules.

"That's, ummm… well…" the gothic girl spluttered. Nervous would be an understatement to her sate of mind. She looked gittery and moving about, like an addict who had recently stopped some kind of drug. Or someone who had consumed far to much caffine.

Ziva raised her eyesbrows, which seemed like the wrong thing to do. The gothic girl tilted her head to one side and narrowed her eyes.

"That's our seat," she said, voice steadier than it had been before.

Ziva did not see what the issue was. It was a seat. That was all. It would be so easy for either of them to go find another one. But Ziva was stubborn. Why should she move when she go there first?

"What is wrong with the rest of the bus?"

"That is our seat. And you better move your big butt somewhere else. Not that your butt is big. Not that I am looking. But even so…" Ziva cut her off.

"Look, what was your name?"

"Abby Scuito"

"Look, Abby," Ziva put stress on her name "There are 145 other seats in this bus which you could choose from. Please go away and find somewhere else before this gets messy."

Abby narrowed her eyes at Ziva for a moment. She glanced at the bags currently sat on _her_ chair. Z David.

"This isn't over, David" she said, of course pronouncing it wrong.

"It's Dah-veed" Ziva replied trying to remain civil. But it was more difficult that it first appeared. Abby ignored her and went to the back of the bus, sticking in a pair of headphones and loosing herself in her music.

The bus pulled up outside the schools and Ziva made her way down the stairs and out into the cool autumn air. All around her people in identical uniforms moved in different directions, as she stood still, trying, and failing, to get her barings. All around her she could see expensive watches, branded jackets and then that stupid school emblum emblazoned on blazers and jackets. She could practically see the wealth seeping out of these pupils, who had probably more money than sense. Why her father had felt the need to drop her into such an establishment was beyond her idea.

She walked in the general direction that she saw all the other girls walking in. They reached the T junction and she saw the crowd part like the red sea, the boys going to the left and the girls going to with right. There was another thing about stupid English "secondery schools". They were mostly split girls and boys. Not that Ziva was the kind of girl who worried about that kind of thing. But she would miss the opposite sex. Back in Isreal she had found that she had more in common with the boys, and growing up with a dad and two brothers meant that she was more comfortable in their prescense. But it seems she was going to have to adapt to this new, environment.

"Every challenge is just another way of bettering yourself". One of her dad's many words of wisdom given to her during her training. In the days where most children were learning "look both ways when you cross the road" and "don't go off with strangers", she was learning "what hurts you makes you stronger" and "think on your feet, even when you are sleeping". And the one that she felt most suited the situation she was in "adapt or die."

The school was an old building with hedges cut into oddly regular shapes and ivy crawling up the stone walls. The stained orange brick looked like it had seen its fair share of abuse but it still stood strong. Ziva made her way into the arch of the front gate where she was greeted by reception.

"Ziva David?" the receptionist said, surprisingly not butchering her last name. When Ziva nodded she continued.

"Your father called the school. I'll show you to you form class," she said as she moved from her desk and out of the small room.

Ziva tried to memorise the twists and turns that they took to get to the form. That combined with the constant talking from the receptionist about the code, registration, timetables and bells was enough to almost give Ziva a head ache.

Eventually they reached a classroom where everyone had sat down. At the door opening of the door the class had fallen silent as they took in the new girl. Ziva could almost hear the cogs turning inside each of their heads, the judgements being made, the quick assesing of her lack of makeup and way of walking. She could see herself being dismissed by some of the class, but some of the class waiting before passing judgement.

"Mr Kort, your new student," she secetary introduced. She smiled at Ziva before abandonning her in the classroom with Mr Kort.

"Ziva David?" he asked, his English accent much more prominent than what she had heard so far. She nodded and he motioned at her to take a seat. When she had reached her seat he began to speak.

"Girls, this is a new term but let's not forget the school rules, shall we?" the rhetorical question was met with a roll of the eyes from the majority of the class. He continued regardless.

"Make-up is not allowed. Bracelets and bangles will be taken off you. No nail-polish. Hair accessories must be red, black or blue." Ziva's eyebrows were almost past her hairline. And she thought she wass coming to a school, not an institution. But this was, as her father had put it, the finest school in the country. As well as one of the most expensive.

"Oh and will one of you please look after Miss David?" he added, more of an afterthought. Ziva wanted to wipe that stupid smirk off his face. She could look after herself, thank-you. She was just about to voice her thoughts when she heard someone else speak.

"I will sir."

Ziva turned round to see an attractive looking brunette leaning back in her chair. She also saw that her new _friend_ Abby was sitting with her. She smirked as Abby leaned over and punched the girl lightly in the arm. Well if her prescence was going to annoy Ms Scuito so much then she was going to take the opportunity. She was not normally one to be so _catty_ but Abby seemed to deserve it.

She picked up her belongings and moved to one of the desks near the brunette who had vonlunteered to babysit her.

"Sarah McGee. Welcome to the Grammar," she said and Ziva offered her a smile. Ziva turned to Abby, attempting to be civil.

"Abby"

"David," she replied, pronouncing it wrong. Again.

"It's Dah-veed" Ziva replied for the secong time that day, "but you can call me Ziva."

Abby shot her a glance and then got up. She went up to Mr Kort who had already returned to doing his own thing and asked if she could go to the toilet. With a dismissive nod she was out the room.

Sarah turned to her.

"So you two have met?"

"Yes. She seems to be very protective over her seat on the bus."

Sarah gave her a knowing look.

"The one right at the front at the top of the bus?" Ziva looked up surprised. So this was common knowledge around here? Was there anything else that she would need to know before she managed to annoy the entire school?

Sarah saw her blank look and decided to put the new girl out of her misery.

"She has sat there every day since year 7 with Kate. But last month Kate moved to America. And I know it seems stupid, but it meant something to her."

Somehow Ziva understood. Some things were difficult to let go off. Some things were difficult to forget and move on with. But everntually she would. Eventually.

The bell rang and the entire class began to move, swinging blazers on and lockers opening and closing. Ziva was on guard immidiately at the sudden movement. She turned to Sarah who gave her a strange look and then explained.

"Assembly."

Sarah did not know what to make of the new girl. She was definatley jumpy, but was that just who she was, or was it something to do with her background? The new girl raised more questions that did answers…

She was caught up by the steady flow of girls chattering loudly, jostling eachother and laughing loudly. The first day of term buzz could practically be sensed from miles away. Ziva was swept up by the different years pulling in different directions but all with the same objective. The assembly hall.

As Ziva entered the building a hushed silence fell as prefects in ridiculous long blue gowns shushed people and teachers gave the pupils disapproving looks.

The lines of students quickly and efficently filled up the assemebly hall with military precision. The only time she had seem such order was in her brief stint with the Israeli army. But at a school? Was this a school or some sort of institution?

A women took to the podium and you could see the girls visibly stand up straighter at her presence. So this was the head mistress. The one that few mentioned, but they all feared. The one that had been the reason why Ziva was here. The one who Eli had called in the favours and pulled a few legs (legs? Was is legs?) to accept Ziva's late application. There she was. Ms Jennifer Sheppard.

"Good morning ladies. Could we please start with hymn number 31."

There was a melodramatic clearing of throats and shuffling of pages as the girls found the correct page in hymn books that had been battered and bruised. The organ that Ziva hadn't noticed until then struck up the familier introduction.

_Oh how terribly _English _of them _Ziva thought as the whole of the assembly hall to a preparetory breath.

"_**And did those feet in ancient time.**_

_**Walk upon England's mountains green: **_

_Well they may have, but given the weather in this country I can understand why he left…_ Ziva thought to herself

_**And was the holy Lamb of God,**_

_**On England's pleasant pastures seen!** _

_Why would anyone actually want to visit England? _Ziva added her thoughts into the hymn.

_**And did the Countenance Divine,**_

_**Shine forth upon our clouded hills?**_

_**And was Jerusalem builded here,**_

_**Among these dark Satanic Mills?**_

_This song does not even make sense. Jeruselum was built in Israel, not England, _Ziva scoulded the writers of the hymn.

_**Bring me my Bow of burning gold;**_

_**Bring me my Arrows of desire:**_

_**Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!**_

_**Bring me my Chariot of fire!**_

_**I will not cease from Mental Fight,**_

_**Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:**_

_**Till we have built Jerusalem,**_

_**In England's green & pleasant Land**_

_Well you may be waiting here a hell of a long time… _Ziva thought to herself

When the hymn finished there was a great shuffle as people pushed and shoved to get a reasonable amount of flospace of the floor. For one of the most prestigious schools in the country their assembly hall was pretty small. The prefects grinned smugly as they took their seats behind the teachers who sat in rows on the side of the stage.

"Welcome back girls, whether you are returning to us or joining us for the first time. May I remind you that this may be a new year and new start but the school rules must be observed. Ignorance is never an excuse. If you are unfamilier with the rules or wish to refresh your memory there is a list on the notice board outside the staff room."

Ms Sheppard continued for a good 10 minutes, and Ziva turned to Sarah who feigned sleep. Ziva smiled back and then turned her attention back to the stage. And the day went on.

Ziva walked into the music school. It was the newest building in she had seem in relation to the school, all white washed walls and huge glass panels. As she walked in she could hear classical music floating through the walls and opera style singing vibrating the glass on the walls. There were a row of sign up sheets along the wall in the foyer that grabbed her attention. Ziva had always been musically talented, and had always leant on music from a young age. Her father had but her into piano lessons to teach her discipline and that practise meant everything. However for Ziva it had opened up so many doors that she would not have been aware of, let alone been able to walk through. Most girls would hide alcohol, boys and secret tatoos. Ziva hid her love for music. She picked up the guitar quickly and when her brother had gone through his rebellious stage and bought a drum kit she fell in love. Drumming required precision, accuracy, rhythm and skill. It was a great way to manage anger and had no boundaries. She was definatly a drummer.

She had quickly skipped over the sign up sheets for all the classical ensembles and went for the last sheet on the wall. One of the posters caught Ziva's eye. The colours were brighter and less shaped and perfected than the other. That and the title of the group caught her attention. She as about to pull a pencil from her blazer (the blazers may be annoying, but they were very useful for the additional pocket space…) when she felt someone come up behind her and she stiffened slightly. Then a hard came into her line of sight as it lent against the wall next to her face. She turned around to see the owner of the hand. He was a tall athletic looking guy with brown hair lightly messed up. His broad smile was easy-going if not slightly suggestive, and his eyes danced with life and laughter.

"So let me guess. A pretty little thing like you. Singer?"

"Drummer actually," Ziva retaliated and she stepped forward, not wanting to look intimidated by the boy's obvious lack of respect for his life. If he did he would no not to make such comments around a certain Ziva David.

The boy did not put out be it, and his grin grew more, a feet which Ziva would not have thought possible.

"Well Miss…" he leaned over to see what she had written on the sign up sheet. Ziva tilted her head but overwise did not move as he leaned further into her personal space. She could feel the heat radiating off his face and his breath fanned her stretched neck giving her the strangest feeling. But she mentally shook it off. He was just some rich kid who wanted to party with the new girl. Idiot.

"…Ziva," he continued, "if you are serious about being in a band, there are better ways to go about it. MS45. Lunch time. Be there."

Ziva did not take well to being ordered around. She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head upwards, a blatant show of defience.

"And why would I do that, mister…" she trailed off as she remembered not getting his name.

"Very special Antony DiNozzo, at your service," he said with a grin that probably did not belong in reality. More like those adverts that sold rubbish to people who actually believed them.

"…Antony," she finished. _Very special indeed _she thought to himself. She would not deny that he was attractive. The problem was that he knew it.

"Well, Ziva," he stressed her name just as she had stressed his, "we are where the real music happens. Not all that classical stuff written by dead people."

Ziva had to smile at his reasoning behind his scorn for classical music. Despite his cocky attitude he did genuinely seem to like the music. Or then again he just might like the attention that came with being in a band.

"Maybe I will turn up. Maybe I will not." And with that she walked off, leaving a laughing Antony DiNozzo in her wake…

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><p><strong><em>I know Abby seems like a bit of a bitch... but it will change! promise! :)<em>**

**_PLEASE REVIEW! :)_**


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey McTardy. What took you so long?" DiNozzo greeted his friend after he had ran into geography several minutes after the bell had gone. Luckily Mr Fornell had a habit of being even later than late…  
>"Will you knock it of Tony."<p>

"Someone's a little grouchy…" Tony tailed off. But then he looked over at Tim for the first time and realised that something might really be wrong. His shoulders were slouched slightly and he had a defeated look in his eyes. Something was definitely wrong.

"Spill, McGee. What's wrong?" It was Tony's somewhat irritating way of telling McGee that he cared. They had been friends since primary school, for no obvious reason. They had very little in common and Tony seemed to bully Tim like a brother. They were overly competitive and eager to better each other in everything they did. Tony was the school's sporting hero, so goaded Tim about that. But Tim bettered Tony in every side of the academic life, whether that was science or English (he was particularly good at creative writing…) but somehow they got on. The scientist in McGee was still puzzling over the chemistry behind the friendship. And he had come up with nothing. Other than sheer coincidence. And he didn't believe in coincidences…

"It's nothing…" McGee trailed off. He didn't want to make a big deal over nothing. It was not his style.

"Just parents stuff," McGee elaborated as he slid into his place and dug into his school bag for his pencil case.

Tony shot him a sympathetic glance. If anyone knew about messed up parents it was Tony.

Anthony DiNozzo Jr was the son of a rich man. And that was about as much as he knew about his father. Despite the fact they lived together they spent very little time under the same roof. Sometimes his father did not come home for extended periods of time. At first Tony had been worried sick, calling him several times and going through the places where he could be, his father's phonebook, anyway of finding out why his father had seemingly disappeared of the centre of the planet... However he gave up and the next day his father turned up, smelling of beer and a good time. That was when he stopped worrying about his father. He had been 7 years old at the time.

Tony was about to say something that may or may not have been of any comfort or use when Mr Fornell burst through the door. There was a scuffle as chairs scraped back as they stood. It was something that had been engrained into their heads since the first day of year 7, thou shalt stand when a teacher entered the room. It was what came with being the private school system for so long.

Fornell stood there for a moment as the boys shifted and waited for complete silence. But even then he did not tell them to sit. Instead he launched right into it.

"As you know you now have the opportunity to join the CCF. This official army run training course provides disciplined organisation and by the end of it you will have developed powers of leadership. Your training will promote the qualities of responsibility, self reliance, resourcefulness, endurance and perseverance," Fornell reeled off in a bored and off hand manner speaking as if he had given the same lecture many times before.

"If you wish to sign up you can come and see me or there will be a sign up sheet next to the hall. But bear in mind you should not take this decision lightly. This will be excruciatingly difficult, and a test of body and mind. And once you sign up you cannot and will not be able to extract yourself from the program. The only exception to this is if you die." The last statement was probably meant as a joke, but it fell on unappreciative ears.

The lesson started as normal after that, but instead of concentrating on the work Tony was thinking about what Fornell had just said. He was a sportsman, so the physical side of the course would be a walk in the park. It would keep his out of the house for some days, which was always a good thing. And then there was the uniform. The camouflage green and brown trousers and jacket and the heavy army boots. He wondered if his new friend Ziva would appreciate a man in uniform.

Ziva David. She was definitely a puzzle. Even in that hideous Grammar school uniform she had a feeling of power and mystery. Not to mention she was downright gorgeous. And her name. It sounded vaguely Middle Eastern. Then there was that accent. The way she had said his name made him feel something strange and alien and weird. It was like a strange tug somewhere he had never felt before. It wasn't just lust. He had defiantly felt that before and that was not it. Not that lust was not a part of it. She was beautiful. And that was an understatement. But there was also something else. Something more…

Tony stood and stared at the signup sheet at the end of the lesson. He had seen a couple of guys scribble their names down jostling and jeering each other on. But Tony was actually thinking about it. Tim stood next to him and grabbed a pen from his bag.

"What, you're signing up?" Tony asked, not able to keep the laugh out of his voice.

Tim shot him a look.  
>"What, you think I'm not tough enough!"<p>

Tony had noticed that Tim had started to lose the puppy fat he had when he was younger. In year 7 he was rounder and had one of those awful hairstyles. But Tony had noticed a progressive change in him. But come on, CCF? Really?

Tim noticed his non-answer and gave him a look.

"More over DiNozzo," he said. Tony stood back and put his arms up. Tim scrawled his name down on the paper and turned to Tony with a "now what you gonna do about that" look about him.

Tony smirked and reached for a pen to sign himself on. If McBlubber was going to do this army thing then he would sign up just to laugh at him.

The last lesson before lunch Ziva sat in her seat in the biology room drifting away from a Dr Mallard's tale of back when he was a young man in Scotland. The man was endearing and had welcomed Ziva like she was an old friend. He had exclaimed his joy at finding out she was from Israel and wasted no time telling her about an incident from his travelling days involving him, a young lover, a shot of bourbon and an uncooperative camel. But now 25 minutes into the lesson and still not having learnt anything Ziva was not as happy as she had been when she had entered the class earlier. Her thoughts drifted back to that Anthony boy. She was deciding whether she should turn up at Tony's request. Her pride told her not to. That he may think she can be summoned at a flick of a hat. And especially one that was owned by a certain Anthony DiNozzo. He had this cocky air about him, one that belonged to someone who had received too many years of girls adoring him and turning to mush from his smile. That smile. It was deadly and charming and just yelled cocky-asshole. But she could not help but notice how attractive he was, how underneath that hideous blazer was a definite layer of muscle… No. She was not going to fall into the ranks of those girls who adored him. She was not going to turn up to a meeting just at his request.

But her heart told her to go. She loved the music, and couldn't let her pride prevent her from doing what she loved. She would have to face that cocky irritating boy in order to do it…

The bell rang for the end of the lesson and the class began to pack away their things. Ziva could not help but smile at the startled look on Doctor Mallard's face when he realised that the time had gone so fast. Still he waved them goodbye with a smile on his face.

Ziva was walking back to her form room, determined that she would not be meeting with Anthony. But seemingly on autopilot she found herself peeling away from the masses of girls walking from the science block to the main school entrance and walking towards the music school. With every step she took inside the music school and looking for MS45 she muttered swearwords in various languages under her breath. She inwardly cursed herself for being so easily persuaded and promised herself that she was there as an observer, and if she did not enjoy it of want to be there she would leave.

She pushed open the door of the room and took in the scene in front of her. Leaning against a desk was the man himself, Mister Anthony DiNozzo. There was a nerdy looking guy next to him who looked slightly annoyed but smiling reluctantly. Cute, not in the same way as Tony, but in a slightly more demure and geeky fashion.

When Anthony spotter her, his face lit up like a Christmas tree that had been decorated by an overzealous two year old.

"Hey there Ziva," he greeted her and the room fell silent. Ziva felt all eyes on her, but instead of shying away from their glare she stared straight back at them. Finally the silence was broken by the tall nerdy looking guy that had been talking to Tony.

"I'm Timothy McGee," he said and Ziva nodded at him in greeting.

"The guy over there is Lean Vance. He plays bass. Then there is Jimmy Palmer over there," a bespecled boy waved at Ziva. If Ziva thought that Tim was geeky this Palmer guy was off the scale. He has thin Harry Potter style frames and curly hair that seemed to stick out in all directions. He smiled nervously, obviously not familiar of how to act around the opposite sex. That was a skill that was sorely missed at an all boy's school. But then again he did not seem to know how to act around people in general.

"He's our sound guy," Tim continued.

"And what do you play?" Ziva asked. Or was he another one of the tech guys.

"McMusical over here plays guitar," Tony butted in, felling slightly left out. He turned his head back to the rest of the room.

"OK guys, huddle up," he said. Jimmy jumped to attention instantly, eager to please. He reminded Ziva of one of those small puppies that would run into glass doors but be bouncing about minutes later like it had never happened. He was way too happy. Was there even a reason to be happy? Leon walked over more slowly, as if reluctant to take orders from DiNozzo. He reached his hand into his blazer pocket and unwrapped a tooth pick. Wait a toothpick? Ziva thought to herself. _Who carries toothpicks around in their blazer pockets?_

"OK," Tony started, "New term. You are here because I think your talents would be well used here in a band. Or you're Ziva." He shot her a wink that would have had some girls in a puddle of mess on the floor. Ziva just looked homicidally angry. Was he saying that she did not have talent? She would show him. Then he could eat his own words…

"We will see where this thing leads us. I have no plans for this band being to next big thing. This thing will just be a way to let off steam. If you are not with me leave now."

No-one moved. Tony saw that as a sign to keep going.

"Right, Thursday second half of lunch, can everybody do then?"

No-one protested so he continued again.

"Any questions?"

Ziva looked around and seeing that no-one else was saying anything spoke.

"So what do _you_ actually do?"

"Other than be amazingly witty and charming?" he flashed a grin. Ziva just raised her eyebrows communicating her disapproval with just a facial expression. A skill that Tony had only seen on a few women. One of whom was his late mother.

"I'm the singer."

Surprised was putting Ziva's state of mind lightly. Her first reaction was to let out a small peel of laughter. She then stopped when she saw that he was not joking.

"Are you serious?" she said.

"Wait until Thursday David, wait 'til Thursday…" he said and she grinned. _Bring it on…_Ziva thought to herself, _bring it on…_

To finish her first day Ziva had her least favorite subject. PE. Physical exercise. Or pointless energy-wasting. She had never found the subject particularly challenging, so had never really put much energy into it. But when as soon as the lesson began Ziva knew she was in deep. She could take down men twice her size. She could take a part any gun from the any government agency from all over the world, put it back together again and take a perfect shot. She could run miles without breaking into sweat, and swim across the English Channel with no hesitation. But never before in her life had she been faced with this. Never before in her life had she needed to know how to play lacrosse. Until now.

Following Sarah's lead Ziva jogged up and down, doing the usual SAQ warm-up. _OK, I can deal with this,_ Ziva thought to herself. _This can't possibly be that difficult…_

Famous last words.

The group then split off into groups and casually started lobbing a small round projectile through the air and into each other's, what were they ever called? Rackets? Sticks? The other player proceeded to neatly catch it and then pass it onto the next player.

_OK, when in Paris do as the Parisians do. Or was it Rome?_Ziva thought to herself. Sarah looked over at her and Ziva gave her a confident smile. Or what she had thought was a confident. Sarah then threw the ball at Ziva who jumped back in surprise. Sarah burst out laughing.

"Use the net. Catch the ball," she said retrieving the ball from the floor at the feet of a traumatized looking Ziva.

"Who invented this game? And why sticks with nets on the end?" Ziva questioned. Everything she had ever done had a purpose. Her times spent in other countries. Her learning of dance and gymnastics all were geared towards the goal. But lacrosse? What did it do? Why?  
>"Why does any game exist?" Sarah shot right back. Very true. Ziva brought her stick up the shoulder height as she had seen the rest of the girls doing.<p>

"Give me your best shot," she said with a renewed determination. Anything these English people could do, she would do better.

oooOOOooo

_*beep*_

_Ziva, my dear. I will not be home for dinner. Rebecca will see to you instead. We will talk later._

_*beep*_

Ziva clicked the button on the answering machine and deleted the message. It was no surprise that her father was not returning home that day. It was no surprise that he had not asked her how her first day at school had gone. But why did it still hurt?

True to his word Rebecca fussed around her making her dinner. Rebecca was like a mother to Ziva, always fussing about Ziva's wellbeing but also strict and firm when she wanted too. As a mother herself with 2 grown up sons she knew how to handle teenagers and children. She had looked after Ziva since she could remember, and before that, she had looked after her brother Ari. And now that Ziva was in secondary school she looked after Ziva just as she had when she was in nappies. It was the only constant in Ziva's life. And for that she was extremely grateful for.

"_So how was your first day?"_Rebecca asked in soft Hebrew. After a whole day of speaking in a foreign language Ziva was thankful for the interlude.

"_It was… different."_

"_Friends?"_

"_Yes"_

"_Enemies?__  
><em>"Yes."<em>_

Rebecca gave her a look and Ziva stopped chewing and gave her a cheeky smile. Rebecca rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath.

"_So maybe it was a good thing I took your weapons off."_

Ziva could not argue there. If she had kept her weapons they were at the risk of being used. A lot. And in the direction of a particular Anthony DiNozzo…

Rebecca went to check on Ziva that night. When she leaned through the gap in the door she smiled at the site before her. Ziva lay curled up in her duvet with a soft smile on her face. A soft smile put there by one very special Anthony DiNozzo…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Leroy Jethro Gibbs studied the figure in front of him. He had read her file and had trained with her in a brief stint in the Israeli armed forces. He knew that she was capable of things that grown men twice her age were unable to master. All that Gibbs had seen was impressive. He only had one issue with it all. Ziva was only 17 years old.

She stood in her well worn in army gear and did not resist his scrutiny. The uniform was similar to the British army's, a larger version of what the boys were wearing. But instead of the camouflage trousers she wore beige cargo trousers and a black fitted T-shirt that covered her shoulders modestly. Her long curly hair was neatly tucked into a small cap, and a dull green jacket that stuck out of her backpack completed the outfit. Her legs were a shoulder-width apart and her hands were neatly tucked behind her back as she stood at attention to her superior. Yes, it was professional and she was going everything right, and very well from what Gibbs had read. But what was disturbing was the fact that this was a 17 year old girl. Gibbs was not well acquainted with Eli David, but from what he could see of his parenting technique, he was not impressed.

He turned to Ziva.

"Let's get this show on the road."  
>Ziva stared blankly at him for a moment, obviously not entirely certain on her idioms. Then Gibbs could pinpoint the exact moment that the meaning of the phrase had hit home. She sent him a wide grin.<p>

"Let's"

They walked out of his office and into the CCF centre. The large echoing room was filled with boys loudly talking among themselves. The rock climbing wall covered one side of the room and the bars covered the other. Gibbs could hear the enthusiasm and eagerness in their voices as they walked in and their presence was made known. Slowly the room fell silent as they all noticed Ziva and Gibbs.

Gibbs surveyed the room. It was the usual bunch of cocky boys who were as far away from officers and soldiers as there could be. And it was his job to turn them into soldiers, or give them a taste of what they could be. What they could achieve if they set their minds to it.

Tony was among the boys who had fallen silent at the entrance of Gibbs and Ziva. He had been unsurprised at the appearance of the infamous Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He was the school teacher who everyone knew and everyone feared, but no-one quite knew why he was there. He was always turning up in the lunch hall and telling off the year 7 who tried to skip the line. But never once had Tony seen him raise his voice. Even when one of the small boys had ran into him and tipped his chicken korma curry all down his front. But somehow the soft whispers of threats were even more terrifying than yelling. Some of the teachers could take lessons from him in that front. Tony had never seen him outside his usual outfit of white T-shirt under a polo shirt and a sports jacket. But now that he was wearing his army gear Tony could see that he was right at home. The small flat cap accentuated the marine cut that Gibbs sported and the uniform looked fitted and well worn. Once a marine, always a marine.

But Ziva? What was she doing there? Girls were not allowed to do CCF, something that the girls from the Grammar had campaigned against for years. Why should boys be trained to protect themselves, and girls were left. Who was more likely to get attacked in the street? Who was going to need all the help they could get if they were mugger? But there she was, Ziva David in that awful army uniform, hair all secured back in a tight bun and neatly tucked into her cap. Even in that stupid uniform she managed to do things to Tony that some of his old girlfriends could never do.

Tony was snapped out of his star struck moment when Gibbs addressed them.

"From now on you are no longer just boys playing with the big toys. I expect every single one of you to behave and act as a real solider or marine should," Gibbs started. He scanned his eyes across the room. Some of the boys visibly sat up straighter, taking the words that he had said to heart. They would be the ones who did well, who put 100% into the course and were returned with the same amount. But others still held that cocky smirk that Gibbs wanted to wipe off their faces, preferably with brute force. They were the stubborn ones, the ones that meant it took almost the whole year to get it into their thick heads that it was no longer a game. When they were using live fire they were going to had to take it seriously before someone got seriously injured.

"From now on you will address me as Sir. Also," he said, noticing the curious gazes that Ziva was receiving, "This is Officer David. She is one of Israel's finest, working her way through the ranks through pure grit and determination. She will be addressed as Ma'am through the course of this program. You are to treat her with the highest of respect and take orders from her just as you would if it were me. Her word as much a law as mine is."

"We will start today with seeing what we've got, then going from there. So, beep test."

This was greeted by a wave of groaning and sighing. They had all went through the trauma that was the beep test. And they all had hated it. With good reason.

Tony stood in a line with the rest of the boys who were stretching out their legs and pumping their arms. Tony was confident. He had been doing beep tests for as long as he could remember. And he was always the one who lasted the longest. The punishing workouts that his coach had forced him and the rest of the football squad through had paid off. Coupling that with his natural ability and stubborn frame of mind made for a worthy competitor to any seasonal cross country runner.

His classmates eyed him wearily. As the school's top football player he was the one to beat. But he was too busy to notice their stares. He was too busy eyeing a certain Ziva David.

Ziva joined the line near Tony's end. She started stretching her limbs and shaking her neck out, raring to go.

"Officer?" Tony asked as she stretched eyeing the delicate bend of her neck. She would have made a great dancer if her chosen profession was not so… violent.

"You are surprised."

"I didn't think you could be an officer at this age. Are you joining us?" He motioned towards the hall, as if he was describing a gentle stroll in the park, and not the bleep test.

"Gibbs thinks it is appropriate to show what I can do in order for you all to take me seriously. However," she stopped moving and turned to face him, "he forgot to mention what exactly is the bleep test."

The open ended sentence was all Tony needed.

"You run. For as long as you can."

Ziva smiled.

"We have a similar thing in Israel. _Run then die_."

Tony gave her a disbelieving look. She smirked.

"It loses something in translation."

A shrill whistle cut through the noise and they all fell quiet. And it began.

*_beep_*

"So how exactly is this measured?" Ziva asked.

*_beep_*

"Every 10 beeps is a stage. At every stage the beeps come closer together. You must get from A to B before the next beep."

*beep*

Ziva nodded in understanding. They fell silent as they fell into the rhythm of the run. She had always found that no matter what situation she was in, no matter where she was the constant she could find was the beat of her heart and her feet hitting the floor. It was somewhat calming and therapeutic of the running headspace.

_*beep*_

By the 20th stage the separation between the fit and the unfit. Much to Tony's surprise and dismay McGee was coping surprisingly well keeping in stride with him and not faltering in the slightest. Tony was impressed by his obvious change in fitness level.

*_beep*_

60th stage. McGee along with the majority of the class had dropped out. Only Tony and some of the other football players and athletes were left. Ziva was also going strong. To her this was no trouble. Running for miles with 20kg on your back in the Israeli sun was exercise. This was a game. A game which she was determine to win

Tony also had similar thoughts floating through his head. He had always been the last to drop out, often being cheered on by the rest of the squad as he pushed himself further than he had known possible. He had never, however been faced with an Israeli butt-kicking ninja drummer. And he was at risk of having his butt kicked by her. He lifted his head up higher. He could outrun her. Sure she may have been trained but he had more muscle mass. He was also larger so his lungs would be larger and more developed. Physically he had the advantage. It couldn't be that hard, right?

*_beep*_

The guys looked on as the final two runners continued going. This was a battle of body and mind, wills and ability. They could tell that both were equally stubborn and determine not to be beaten by the other. It was one of the most closely fought beep tests there had been in their time. Never before had anyone taken this so seriously.

Tony ran closer to Ziva.

"So are you giving up anytime soon?" he said in between deep gasping breaths. This was further than he had ever gone before, even with the cheering on from the rest of the class. She brought out something strange in him, a desire to give her a run for her money (pun intended). With her, he was so much better. She did that to him.

Ziva smirked at him. Really? She sped up a little putting distance between the two of them. Internally, Tony was screaming at himself. The mind was willing to continue, but the body was not so sure. His lungs were burning and his legs ached and strained with every stride he took. He knew he would not last much longer. But would Ziva? One glance in her direction told him the answer.

His body reined victorious in his internal battle and he dropped out at 130, a new personal best. But the victory was somewhat bitter as Ziva continued going. The class was egging her on; similar to how they used to treat Tony. Tony did not join in but spent a good 5 minutes trying to catch his breath and down some water simultaneously. An interesting feat for someone who's body had given up the will to be upright. With jelly legs Tony lowered himself onto the bench where a gap had been created for him. As he downed his water in gulps watched Ziva as she ran. Before the exercise she had stripped down her cargo trousers into tight black running leggings. Tony watched in fascination as the muscles in her legs rippled and moved with every pace she took. She was fascinating, beautiful and fluid, yet practical and measured. She was beautiful. Tony stopped himself at that. Beautiful? She was definitely hot, there was denying the immediate attraction. But now she was sweating with a fierce look of determination in those awful gym clothes Tony swore he had never seen anything so beautiful. Sports illustrated had nothing on Officer Ziva David.

However all good things had to come to an end. There was only so much the human body could do and at stage 150 (a new school record) Ziva dropped out. She had earned the respect of the guys as they slapped her on the back good naturedly and offered her their water. Maybe that was a strange man-way of telling her that she was accepted. It also added to the number of admirers that Ziva had.

Tony stepped into the changing rooms after CCF. The smell of deodorant and sweat was overpowering and practically visible. It was pretty much the average male changing room. And it was pretty disgusting.

As Tony rummaged through his bag in search of a can of deodorant he overheard some of the guys talking about his new friend.

"_Wow did you see her!"__  
><em>"Who knew that CCF uniform could be sexy?"<em>_

And then the thing that made Tony's fists clench into tight balls.

"_I wonder if she would let me do that. I'd show her a good time…"_

Tony turned his head sharply to see where the comment had come from. And of course it was Ronald Sacks. The cocky arsehole was the only guy who rivaled Tony on the conquests front. He had a new girlfriend every single week and had slept with most of them. He was a sleaze bag in the highest of order and Tony would have no objections to punching him. Hard.

He lengthened his stride and reached the other side of the room in an instant and quickly grabbed the front of his shirt. Twisting it Tony took a step closer, getting too far in his face.

"Listen here Slacks. You do not lay a finger on her, you got that?"

Sacks smirked in an arrogant fashion sneering at his face.

"Or what?" he leered, not afraid of a fight. His first mistake.

Tony slammed Sack's head on the back of the lockers and let go of him quickly. Turning on his heel he walked back to the other side of the room, through the awkward silence that had descended on the room when he had jumped to defend Ziva's honor.

When Tony walked out of the changing rooms minutes later he heard a girly squeal followed by the sound of face hitting tarmac. Tony was greeted with the sight of Ziva walking away from a groaning Ron Sacks who had a tarmac shaped imprint on his face and a nasty looking bruise on his nose.

Ziva just smirked at Tony.

"Thanks. But no thanks."

And she walked off, leaving Tony grinning and watching her hips swaying as she walked in those awful cargo trousers. She made him speechless. How did she know what Sacks had said? Tony grinned. Crazy ninja chick…


	4. Chapter 4

_**WOW! **_  
><em><strong>i woke up this morning to a bunch of review and was VERY HAPPY all day! :D you guys are amazing, seriously!<strong>_  
><em><strong>i know im kind off slacking... my chapters are becoming progressive shorter... but i promise i wont sink any lower than like 2,500 words... :D<br>and here is a smidgen of McAbby as promised! i wrote these two how i thought they would be after the whole sean murray loosing a lot of weight and growning up and getting kinda hot... :P to i'll be interested to know what you think about the way i wrote it!**_

_**anyways enjoy and please review on your way out! :)**_

_**DISCLAIMER: i own nothing. still. :( **_

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><p>"TIMMYTIMMYTIMMY!"<p>

Timothy McGee anchored himself firmly to the ground in preparation for another hit from hurricane Abby. Sure to his prediction Abby launched herself into his awaiting arms at full speed. She drew back and grinned at him. Her expression quickly cahnged as she noticed what he was wearing. And how we smelled.

"Love a man in uniform…" she said cheekily.

_**Shit, did she just say she loved him? **_McGee thought to himself. _**No. He was thinking way too much into this. Of course she didn't mean it. She loves you like she loves puppies and Brain Matter, never in any way that you may want her. The faster you deal with it the faster you can get on with your life… **_

_**Shit**__, _Abby thought to herself, _**did she really just admit that? He probably thinks I'm such a freak… Urggg… brain, shut up. **_

"You're all sweaty," Abby hurridly changed the subject.

"Just had the beep test. Tony got beaten." He said it with such joy, glad to have someone to bring his friend down a peg or two. More like a dozen with Tony but still…

"Officer Ziva…" he was cut off.

"…David?" Abby finished. McGee nodded.

"She was pretty amazing. I mean, did you know she is an Officer in the Israeli armed forces! I didn't think that was possible for someone our age. And her stamina is just riduculou- wait, you know her?"

"She took Kate's seat on the bus…" Abby grumbled, still annoyed at her for it.

"You are holding a grudge because she sat in an empty seat on a bus on her first day at school in a strange new country?"

Abby looked slightly shift as McGee phrased it that way. It was true though. How was Ziva to know that she would get annoyed at sitting on her seat. That was pretty bitchy. And Abby Scuito was not known to be bitchy. She prided herself in being better than that, in accepting people when they didn't fit with the status quo. And she had alienates someone because of something so petty and stupid. Who was she becoming?

McGee sensed Abby's discomfort and changed the subject.

"Tony's auntn Susan sends her regards." Most of Tony's family lived in America but were all constantly skyping and flying over to visit. Aunt Susan had taken a particular shine to Abby. Abby and Tony were practically family. Whoever was Tony's friends was adopted into the huge DiNozzo family. It was what came with being Italian. And no-one who was related to Tony had any hope of being sane.

McGee and Abby got on the bus as it stopped in from of the school gates. As they reached their seats they settled into an easy conversation about school and music.

The bus drew up to McGee's stop and he stood up to leave. As if out of instinct he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Before he could think about his action he walked off out of the bus, cheeks burning but with a small embarrased smile on his face.

_**Wow, **_Abby thought to herself, touching her cheek where his lips had been moments ago, _**where had that come from?**_

McGee had always been the slightly nerdy awkward kid who found solice in computer games and programming rather than the real world. But this new McGee did CCF and kissed girls on the ckeek and made their knees turn to jelly. What had brought that change on? Whatever it was, Abby was going to find it, thank it, and make sure to continue to give it to him. She liked this new McGee…

Tony swung open the door of his house and stopped suddenly. Something was wrong. Call it his gut, but there was something different about the house. Things were not where he had left them that morning, and no-one should have been in the house since then. He quietly dropped his bag to the floor and grabbed a cricket bat that was leaned against the cupboard. Armed and prepared be went into the kitchen, the first room he could reach in his huge open plan house. It was just like one of those cop shows, he tried to reassure himself. He would clear the house. He was armed now. Except on those TV shows they were never armed with cricket bats…

Tony slowly made his way down the hallway and heard a noise coming from the kitchen. He raise his bat in preparation and swung open the door with a yell. He was this close to hitting the moving object with his bat, but stopped just in time.

"Dad?"

Tony stirred two mugs, one filled with coffee one with green tea. He had never really like coffee, but had always just drank it to fit in with the other guys. But at home when it was just him he would indulge in his guilty pleasure. Herbal tea. If only his classmates could see him now. Anthony DiNozzo, who secretly indulged in herbal tea… He brought the mugs into the dining room where Anthony Dinozzo Sr sat. He was an older more worn out version of his son with the same dancing eyes that made all the ladies love him. He was adjusting his hair just as Tony would in the morning. The resemblence was uncanny. But Tony tried his hardest to be as little like him as possible.

"Son," he said gruffly as Tony placed the mug infront of him.

"You are back," Tony said, neither annoyed or angry. He was completely impartial when it came to his father. He had cut all emotional ties with him a long time ago, despite the fact they lived in the same house. For some of the time.

"Junior," DiNozzo Sr started. This was never good. He only called him Junior when he had done something stupid or needed something. Or had done something stupid and therefore needed something.

"There may have been, a slight problem with business lately."

Oh. Was that just another way of saying he was broke. Surely he couldn't be? For all of his life money had never been a problem for Tony. But now this?

"How long have you been living high on the low?"

Anthony DiNozzo Sr sighed. He was going to have to tell his son some day. And there was no time like the present. He suddenly felt older, aged be the secrets and the lies he told. Tony could see it now mapped out across his face in lines and creases.

"Years."

"Years!" Tony stood up, incrudulous. How ha-? Why-?

"Credit cards?" Tony asked.

"Overdrawn."

"Accounts?"

"All frozen."

Wow. This was bad. This was really bad.

"What about school?"

"You're going to have to come out of that private school of yours. Then we mig-"

"I am not coming out of that school!"

"Well I can't afford to keep you in there!"

Tony sat back down again and buried his head in his hands. He couldn't leave that school. To other people it may have seemed like his studies didn't matter to him. But Tony was smart. He knew that exams were important. He needed to do well and he knew it. He didn't want to be dependant on his dad for his entire life. And now apparently leaning on dad for money was not an option. He was going to have to do some serious smooth talking if he wanted to keep his place at school…

oooOOOooo

Abby took a deep breath. New day, new start. Hopefully Ziva would see it that way too…

Abby shuffled up to the front of the bus and was overcome by the sense of déjà vu. There sat Ziva, head in a book sitting in her and Kate's seats. But instead of demanding she move Abby was going to attempt something different. Civilised conversation.

"Can I sit there?" she asked. Ziva glanced up from her book for a moment, then wordlessly moved her bags off the seat next to her and onto the floor. Abby slid into the chair and Ziva went back to her book. An awkward silnce fell on the two of them, Ziva sitting perfectly still and Abby fidgetting and shuffling noisily looking shifty. Ziva sighed in frustration. How was she supposed to read when Abby was making so much noise.

"Was there something you wanted, Abby?"

Abby fiddled with the sleeves of her blazer.

"I am sorry about yesterday," she began, not daring to look Ziva in the eye, "I was out of line."

Ziva turned to face Abby full on.

"Who is Kate?" By not acknowledging Abby's apology Abby knew she was not totally forgiven. She knew she deserved the reservations in judgement. But at least Ziva was talking to her.

"Kate is my big sister," Abby started, "she moved to America to go to law school…" Abby trailed off. Ziva nodded and silence fell on them once again.

The bus was drawing to a halt outside the school. Abruptly Ziva stood up and spoke.

"I understand. The whole sister thing," she said quickly. Then she took off before Abby could say anything in response. Abby was confused. Miss David seemed to pose more questions then she did answers…

"No."

Mr Morrow looked at the boy infront of him. The boy who he only knew as the boy who got caught making out with a girl in the music school. The boy who was now begging him for a scholarship or a bursery. Whichever would see him through to the end of year 13.

"Your grade are not exceptional, more like bordering on acceptable. You _clearly_ have no regard for your studies. The school cannot afford to give out money like that. I sympathise with your situation, but there is not way I can give you the money."

Tony sighed. He had come begging to the head only to be shot down. But he was a DiNozzo. And DiNozzo's didn't give up that easily.

"What if my grades improve?"  
>"Then you will be reconsidered."<p>

Tony was satisfied with that. He stood up and shook hands with Morrow, then left the room. It was only when he was out of sight that Tony did a victorious fist pump. Now all he had to do was get the grades…

"Come on McGee!"  
>"No." Of course he wasn't going to tutor Tony. Tony was insufferable at school, why would be volenterily choose to spend more time with him? And it was not like he was going to make any money from this.<p>

"Come on McGiggle. I really need this!"

"Really need what?" a voice behind him said. Tony jumped and squealed in a very… manly fashion. Ziva was stood there, as calm and composed as if she had been there from the beginning. Tony hadn't even heard the door of the music room open. And they were heavy doors designed to be thick and soundproof. Crazy ninja…

"Tony is asking me to tutor him. His father has run out of money and is unable to pay for school unless he gets a scholarship. Which actually requires intellingence," Tim filled Ziva in on the details. She nodded in understanding.

"Enough with the details, McBlabbermouth…" Tony said. He didn't want Ziva to know about his trouble. She was an eternal mystery to him, but she seemed to know more about him than he cared to remember. But apparently he had no choice now…

"Can we just get started now? Please?" he said quickly changing the subject. They were all gathered in the music school for a band rehersal. Tony was eager to get started as soon as possible, eager to stop the rest of them talking about his personal life and to prove to Ziva that he could sing.

The rest of the band began to pull out instruments and tune guitars. Tony helped with the amps and setting up the mics as Ziva settled herself behind the drum kit. She had not played in a while and was looking forward to getting back on the donkey (horse?). She moved the stool closer to the kit and angled the high-hat so it was in easy reach.

They jammed for half an hour, falling into the easy rhythm of playing. Ziva was surprised at Tony's voice. It was not the conventional male singer voice, perfected taught, the kind of voice you got out of a few singing lessons. It was not refined, had a few rough edges but sounded good. More blues and soul than pop rock. But it was good. Better than Ziva could have hoped for.

After the rehersal the guys had cleared off with games the next lesson. Ziva and Tony were left to clear away the equipment and put it onto the trolley. Once they had hefted the final amp onto the trolley they set off out of the music school. They reached the turning where Ziva went one way and Tony went the other. She stopped before they could turn and grabbed his arm to stop him from moving. He turned himself to face her, and they just stood there for a moment. Both trying to read eachother's eyes or expressions. Ziva had her expression trained from year of training. But not of the usual type. She had learnt early on in her life that she was always going to be looked down upon, by her father, by her army buddies. The only way she was going to be able to get anywhere if she could lie through her teeth. Of course she wasn't in pain. Another 5 miles? No problem. Of course I have no qualms about killing another human being.

Tony's upbringing had been less violent but still had the same ability to lie. Of course dad was at home. No, I know exactly where my dad is right now. Of course that's his signature, and of course I didn't forg that…

Ziva chose to break the silence between them. There was something about Tony that made her feel slightly unsettled, something strange. She was yet to discover what that was.

"I will tutor you."

Tony raised his eyesbrows. Ziva continued.

"I am fluent in Hebrew, English, Arabic, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Russian and Turkish. I have an extremely high IQ and, quite frankly, you need all the help you can get."

Tony stepped forward.

"Well, Miss David, how does Friday sound. I will have food, you just need to bring that pretty little head of yours."

Ziva narrowed her eyes at him then squeezed his arm that she had forgotten she was holding. She smirked at his grimce in pain and walked off.

Tony shook himself. Had he just asked her out? This _thing _he had with Ziva was shaping up to be the strangest relationship he had ever had with a girl…

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><p><strong><em>PLEASE REVIEW! THEY MAKE ME HAPPY AND UPDATE QUICKER! :D<em>**


	5. Chapter 5

_**HELLO!  
>ok im sorry but i broke my promise :( this chapter is less than 2,500 words :( do you guys mind? i was thinking between uploading later and uploading now but less... what do you guys think?<strong>_

_**anyways THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS/ALERTS/FAVOURITES! :D :D :D im do happy you all like this thing!**_

_**anyways enjoy!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: i dont not earn nothing. **_

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><p>Chapter 5<p>

Jennifer Sheppard in her house on campus staring out of the window of her office. She could see the school from there. It was like her whole life revolved around the school. Even when she went "home" from work for the day, school was still with her. She was practically part of those old worn stone walls crawling with ivy and aged by the years. That was not to say she didn't like her job. She had worked her way up to the top, going from politics teacher to headmistress in a matter of years. She was proud of what she had achieved and was always striving to do better, for her and the school. It was as if she felt the need to proved herself to something, to be something in the world.

She turned her head further east to look at the boys' school. And thinking of the scholl subsiquenntly made her think of a certain teacher. The man who she had once loved more than life itself. The man who had left her all those years ago, leaving her with only her competitive spirit and alcohol to keep her warm at night. The man who's piercing blue eyes that Jenny had seen change from dark cobalt in the heat of the moment to a claming sea blue when he was teasing and laughing. Jenny had never known a man who could project so many emotions through his eyes. But then again she had never known a man quite like Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

A sharp knock at the door brought her out of her thoughts. She placed her mug of tea down on her diesk and descended the staircase. One of the many perks of being headmistress was the huge house that came with it. It was an old fashion house that was a nightmare to keep warm in the cold English winters. But she had grown to love the old battered fireplace and there was nothing in life she enjoyed better than winter nights spent reading infront of that fireplace. She traced the varnished wooden banister marvelling at the smooth feel of it below her hands. She could see the dark figure waiting at her door and could already tell who it was. She knew him so well. As she reached the door she peered through the peephole. Speak of the devil…

She opened the door and tried not to notice how good he looked in his blue polo-shirt and fitted trousers. She tried to control herself as she saw that damn half smirk that made her feel strange on thew inside. With no success.

"Mr Gibbs," she said and turned into her house, a silent indication for him to come in. He wiped his feet on the welcome mat and followed her into the house. He always was the gentlemen, opening doors for her and taking her arm. But if he was the perfect gentlemen maybe he wouldn't have done what he had all those years ago…

She turned left into the kitchen and reached for a glass of water. Her top rose up slightly not going unnotived by Gibbs. She turned her back to him as she filled it with water.

"Was there something you wanted?"

Gibbs didn't reply. He was too busy looking her up and down. She hadn't changed since back in the day, if anything she looked even better. She was more curvy and soft, but still was as fiery as ever. She was beautiful, inside and out. And was it bad that he thought she looked hot when she was mad at him?

Jenny took his silence the wrong way.

"So you're going to say something or just stand there?" she said icily. They were polar opposites in that way. When Jenny was nervous she tended to talk too much. But when Gibbs was nervous he just said nothing at all. It was something that Jenny was aware of and working on. Not particularly well though…

"What do you want me to say?" he said finally. She turned around.

"I don't know, you were the one who came here!"

"So how are you?" he said. Jenny barked in laughter.

"If you had cared you wouldn't have left me 5 years ago!" And there it was. She had said it. What she had been too afraid to tell him for years. She felt her eyes swim with tears but blinked angrily. He had no right to make her cry, and she was not going to show him the weakness in her tears. Why was it that he was capable of envoking such strong emotions in her? A small voice in the back of her mind knew why. Because she loved him and had never stopped loving him. That stupid, foolish part of her mind still loved him. And it was eating her up inside.

"I trust you can see yourself out," she said. And with that she stalked out of her the room, up the stairs and slamming the door of her bedroom shut.

Gibbs ran his hands over his face. All he wanted to do was chase her up those stares and kiss her until he voice went hoarse and his throat dried up. She deserved that and more. And what had he given her? A broken heart and trust issues. But she wouldn't let him. Chances were that he would end up with a black eye and a couple of bullets in his chest. And he deserved it. After how he had treated her. He had run away when it started to look serious. The imfamous Leroy Jethro Gibbs had been scared. Until then. He was scared of corrupting his memories of Shannon and Kelly, scared to fall. Scared to love again. Dammit! He slammed the palms of his hands against the surface of the counter. Damn stupid emotions…

Tony jumped as he heard a car pulling up outside his house, but sighed as it drove past. He felt like he was on his first date all over again. He wrung his hands nervously. Miss Ziva Daivd was coming around to his house to tutor him in the subjects that he was just hanging on in there with. Miss Ziva Crazy Ninja Chick David was a mystery in every sense of the word. And now she was coming around to his house. He was Anthony DiNozzo. He could handle most girls in the entire year. He had handled most of them. But this was different. This was Ziva David. Her fiery passion and her amazing drumming skills and her stupidly amazing stamina…

He jumped again as he heard the bell of his house ring. He had not heard a car drive up to the house. Either that or he was so deep into his own thoughts that he did not hear anything else. He walked to the door wiping his sweaty hands on his trousers and opened the door.

Ziva David took in the sight before her as the door opened infront of her. He was wearing a dark blue Tshirt and a pair of well washed jeans. And he looked amazing. She shook herself out of her daze and raised her eyebrows at him as he blatantly checked her out.

"Are you going to stand there checking me out for the next 15 minutes or are you going to let me in?"

He took a deep bow producing a smile from Ziva as he let her into his house.

"McGee and Abby are coming around later with pizza later. Should we get started?" Tony asked as they settled into the living room.

Ziva pulled out a pile of books from her bag and dropped them heavily on the table. Tony's eyebrows shot up. Yes, he was all up for taking this school thing seriously but did he really need that many books?

"Are all those really necessary?"

Ziva smirked at him, awaking some kind of competitiveness in him. It was just something about her that made him want to give it as good as he got.

"I did not know if your lack of intelligence was just legend or true. I came prepared for _everything_," she said. The stress on the word everything made Tony grin slightly. She was a strange mix of class and sheer dirty minded wit. But then again it took one to know one.

"My intelligence is legendary?" he said quietly he said, taking a step closer to her. Ziva tilted her head up and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"It's not the only thing about you that is legendary," she said suggestively, looking his in up and down. He felt like a piece of meat being leered at. And he liked it.

Suddenly she stood back, and her smirk was replaced with an innocent smile.

"Shall we start?"

3 hours and 2 giant bags of Doritos later they had conquered the Everest that was Maths. They then set their sight on higher ground and were talking over the likelyhood of Tony mastering Biology any time soon (with many jokes being made about a certain section in the silibus… They were laughing as the doorbell rang and Tony got up to answer it.

"TONY!" Abby launched herself straight into his arms. Ziva walked not far behind Tony and stopped right behind him. Abby opened her eyes and saw Ziva standing infront of her over Tony's back. She took a step back out of Tony's arms and greeted Ziva nervously.

"Ziva." The way she said it made it sound more like a question than a greeting.

"Abby," Ziva said, somewhat more descisively than Abby. The air stood still as around and the awkward silence was too much for both the guys to handle.

"So McLunchlady, what have we got?"

Tim welcomed the change in topic. He did not, however, relish in the nickname.

"Pizza!"

They sat down with pizza boxes balanced precariously on laps in the living room. The conversation flowed easily from one topic to another, with Tony and Ziva seemingly having a conversation about who could make the most dirty jokes or end all sentences with "that's what she said". Tony was still baffled of how someone who had trouble with the most simple of idioms could understand and even better could use "that's what she said" in the flow of a sentence. Abby found the whole thing hilarious, but Tim had the decency to look embarrased.

After a particularly suggestive joke which had Ziva in fits of girly giggles and Tony not too far behind Abby had a plan.

"I'm getting another drink. Can I get you guys anything?" Ziva shook her head, unable to form a proper sentence. Tony, also in an equal state also shook his head in response.

"Here, let me help you."

Tim reacted just as she had predicted. He was a perfect gentleman, and if at times it was annoying it was also uncommon in most guys and endearing. He followed her out of the living room and into the ajoining kitchen. Abby put down the glasses and lowered her voice.

"So Timmy, do you think there is something going on with those to?" she asked. Judging by the heated looks and the countless numbers of sexual innuendos that were whipped back and forth between them throughout the evening the spark was definatly there. Whether that could develop into something more she had no idea.

Tim let out a bark of laughter at her statement causing the other two to turn around sharply. Abby gave him a pointed look and dragged him further into the kitchen so they were both out of sight. After Tim recovered from the shock he managed to form an answer.

"I honestly don't care if anything happens between them or it does not."

Abby hit him hard on the shoulder and gave him a look.

"What?"

"I'm serious Tim! They would such a cute couple! Kinda like Mr and Mrs Smith meets high school musical!"

"High school musical? Really?" Tim gave her a look.

"Not the point McGee!"

"Even if they do…do anything, we are not interfering. Got it!"

Abby loved Tim, she really did. But he had to stop playing by the rules! A bit like those two in the living room…

Tony turned to Ziva when McGee and Abby left the room. Ziva was smiling, and her face lit up in a carefree way that Tony loved. He was going to make it his personal mission to make that smile appear every day of the rest of his life. Once he was certain that they were out of earshot he pulled her closer to talk to her. She turned to her and smiled, and for a moment he forgot what he was going to say. Then it came back to him.

"Do you think there's something going on between McGoo and Abby?"

Before she could reply they heard a bark of laughter coming from the kitchen and they both turned around sharply. They were greeted by an angelic smile from Abby before she pulled herself and McGee back into the other room. Shaking her head Ziva turned back to Tony.

"Why would this concern us, Tony?"

"Aren't you just a little curious? Wanting to do something stupid and reckless, just to see what might happen?" he leaned into her and stared at her deeply. Neither of them could figure out who they were talking about at that moment in time…

Abby and McGee returned to the room and they chatted about school and home and everything in between. As the clock struck 10 McGee and Abby reluctantly said that they had to go. Ziva also made excused herself, catching a ride with McGee who offered to give her a lift after finding out she was planning on taking the bus home at that time of night. At the door Tony stood to bid his guests goodbye. Last out of the door was Ziva, who seemed nervous all of a sudden. She stopped next to where he stood and looked up at him.

"I will… umm… see you later?" she said. Tony was overwhelmed with the urge to hug her. But he fought off the emotion and smiled back.

"Later, Miss David."

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	6. Chapter 6

**_HELLO!_**

**_right... 2 things:_**  
><strong><em>1) THANKYOU FOR THE FAVOURITES AND REVIEWS! WOOO! :D :D <em>**  
><strong><em>thing 2) im am so sorry for not uploading sooner! ive been really busy :( but here it is! :D and i made it extra long to make up for the lack of updates! :)<em>**

**_please review! :)_**

**_DISCLAIMER: i dont not own nothing. :(_**

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><p>Chapter 6<p>

On Saturday Ziva scraped her hair back and looked at herself in the mirror. She was dressed in her team kit, and was ready for anything. If Hudson High School for young ladies were looking for victory, they were going to have to go through her.

Despite the fact that it was her first week at the school the PE teachers could see her natural ability. Her muscles were well trained and her figure was lean yet muscly. Her stamina was built from the days she ran through the hot Israeli sun in her army days. Her aim was uncannily accurate and deadly when utilised. But she never thought she would have to use her accuracy for this. She had never imagined that she would be where she was at that moment, stood infront of the mirror wearing a borrowed team kit that fit surprisingly well to an all Enlgish girls private school ready for a match against an equally wealthy and private girls school getting ready for her first lacrosse match.

After the initial apprehension about the game she was proudly able to say that she was pretty damn good. It had taken her a while to get use to the idea of throwing a ball around to other people's sticks with baskets at the end, and she was yet to see the point to it all, but once she had she had fallen into the natural rhythm that had come with playing in a team game. She had found that she had somehow belonged with the rest of the team, able to talk to them on an uncomplicated level that ony focussed around the game, the tactics and the way they were going to play it. There were no awkward questions about her past and why she was in the school to begin with, not to mention in the country. The team saw her skill and accepted her as a lacrosse player, nothing more and nothing less. And she liked that. They were even more impressed with her natural competitive spirit that meant what she did not have in the way of experience she made up with natural talent and determination.

The morning was crisp and colder than it had been for the past few days. Ziva watched the steam on the window of the mini bus trickle down as the bus sped through the empty morning roads. The coach was filled with good-natured banter and probably more sugar and caffine than was healthy for that time in the morning. Everyone was hyped up for the game and team spirit was almost as high as their blood sugar levels. They were rareing to go and show Hudson what they were made of. They were a force to be reckoned with. A force that was currently on a sugar high. An interesting combination…

As they dismounted from the minibus, the chatter pittered out into almost silence. They school was an intimidating structure. Where the Grammar was history and tradition Hudson were sharp corners and huge modern architectual fetes. There were modern buildings as far as the eye could see and the whole place seemed to be alive dispite the fact that it was 8 o'clock on a Satuday morning. Even the lawns that stretched out into the distance were cut with military precision. And then there were the pupils.

You could almost sense the self-superiority radiating from the girls on the field. But Ziva and her teammates were not to be put off by girls who felt as if they ruled the world. Ziva and her team were going to take them down a peg or two, if all went to plan. And if they had Ziva David on their side then there were damn well going to get what they wanted…

After a quick warm up in the frosty air, their captain called them in. Ziva bent her head in to hear what she had to say.

"Right, I'm not gonna lie, they are good. But we are better, fitter and damn we have a heck of a lot more fun. So let's go out there and show them how we play," she said with a fierce determination. The rest of the team showed their agreement, and the game began.

Ziva knew that the team had definitely been putting in the training and the fitness sessions, and could see that they were all paying of. They were all fast and had extremely good stamina, much to Ziva's surprise. From what Ziva had seen of their country so far very few of them actually bothered with excersise. But clearly there were at least one group of pupils at the school who did.

There was a still moment as both teams waited for the draw off. Ziva could see every single player on the field paused for a moment, the calm before the inevitable storm hit. There was a shrill blast of the whistle as the ball was tossed into the air and both players went for the ball. The Grammar won possesion of the ball, which was quickly passed down the field, switching from channel to channel, making the other team run out of energy. After some tactical passes made around the 11. Ziva charged into the circle, full intending to prove herself to her team and prove something to herself. When she got there so found a ball headed straight towards her. Catching it neatly in her stick and cradling it skillfully she shot the ball straight into the net. She punched the air in a moment of immaturity and the rest of the team ran to her. What Ziva did not know was that she had executed her first even successful cutter.

The smiles all around made Hudson even more determined to step up their game. They started with the ball giving them the initial advantage. But the opposing defense held strong and there was little opportunity for getting the ball into the 11. After little movement in either direction half time was called.

Ziva was completely focussed in the game, and the next half she was determined to get another goal in. She worked closely with the rest of the attack to bring the ball back into their attacking half. There was a tense few minutes when the ball was in the 11 but not going anywhere near the goal. Then Ziva saw an opportunity and drove fast and hard into the space in front of the goal. As if reading her mind she received the ball perfectly from the right center, but then a leg came out of nowhere and she found herself skidding across the grass and landing with a thud on her ankle.

There was a stunned silence as everyone turned to the person who put their foot out. It was obvious that it was intentional, not even the Hudson coach could claim it was an accident. Then Ziva sat up, wincing at the pain as she attempter to put weight on her ankle.

Smiling at the sympathetic looks she limped of to the sideline. The sub ran on, after shooting her a sympathetic look. Ziva grinned weakly made her way to the first aid kit.

Ziva was pulling off her shoe with a grimce when she felt a prescense behind her. Tensing up she whipped around, fully intending to hit whoever was behind her. She was angry and frustrated, and hitting someone would be the perfect way to dispell those feelings.

But she did not hit the person behind her when she saw him. She was too surprised. Once she got over the initial shock she spoke.  
>"What are you doing here, DiNozzo?"<p>

Tony smiled his full blown 1000W lightbulb smile. Ziva just growled at him.

"We just finished our rugby match. Came here to show some support," Ziva would have laughed at that had she not been in so much pain. More like leer at the girls getting all hot and sweaty in her short skirt and tight team tops.

"What happened?" He had not seen her fall, but had arrived just in time to see her on the ground, then limping over to the sideline.

"Someone tripped me up. It is nothing," Ziva tried to brush it off. His concern was something that she did not need right now.

Wordlessly he knelt down at her feet. Ziva looked at him like he was mad, but he just slowly pulled her studs off the rest of the way. She tried to not make any noise, but even then Tony could tell she was in pain. He eased off her sock despite her protests and started to asses the damage. Ziva was not done yet.

"You cannot do dividing fractions. How are you going to help me in any way shape or form?"

"I have been playing rugby since yr 7. I know something about sports injuries," he quipped back, and smiled at her. Ziva scould. Why did he have to keep smiling? What was there to be happy about?

Tony wrapped his fingers around her ankle and Ziva felt a shiver crawl up her leg. And it was nothing to do with the cold that her foot had now been exposed to. But it did have everything to do with the person who was current massaging her foot gently and slowly rotating her ankle clockwise then anticlockwise. Ziva already knew that nothing was broken, to her just going to be badly bruised, of at the worse sprained. But she couldn't bring herself to tell him that. And his hands on her ankle were so soothing. She could almost reach over and…

She gasped as Tony pressed a particulary sensitive part of her ankle. Or she could reach over there and strangle him. She sent him a murderous look and he just smirked. That stupid smirk that was so cocky and arrogent but so damn cute…

"You'll live!" he said with such joy. Ziva just raised her eyebrows at him.

"That's it?"

"What you wanted me to kiss it better?" he shot back. Ziva gave him a look that he couldn't quite read. Was that a yes? Or a no?

"Maybe I could settle for a kiss on the nose…" Tony said.

"Maybe I could kill you 12 different ways from where I am sitting right not," Ziva quipped back and Tony grinned. What a way to go…

Ziva's head shot up as the whistle blew for full time. She shot Tony a final look, a cross between "go die" and "I'll miss you" and limped off into the distance, and Tony being Tony watching her hips sway as she walked off…

oooOOOooo

Maths masterclass was something that McGee had attended ever since he can remember. Even since his teachers had discovered how good he was with numbers he had been sent off to these once every month. Public schools all over the area were invited to send their gifted and talented to the most prestigious school in the area for a day of maths and computing. Timmy had remembered his first time at the class being in awe of the school, the pupils, the beautiful grounds, the whole works. He could have never known that now 9 years later he would be a pupil at the school, having been selected to be one of the few scholarship pupils the school had.

His maths teacher had roped him into running the masterclass after he had (correctly) assumed that he would not be involved in any of the Saturday morning sporting fixtures that the school had. The maths teacher therefore had added his name to the list of volunteers without any asking of permission. Not that Tim would have put in any objections. It was either school or home. And school was looking a hell of a lot better at that moment in time.

Timmy reached to hall where all the pupils had gathered together, nervous clusters of small children who looked like lost sheep about to be thrown to the wolves, older students who were trying to play it cool but were equally nervous. The school was an intimidating structure, and then there were the students in tailored blazers and neatly pressed shirts.

Tim nodded at some of the other pupils who had been roped into running this thing and joined them in the line around the edge of the hall. There were pupils from the Grammar at the classes too but the divide between them was obvious. One of the downsides of separate schools each gender was the awkwardness that developed between the two genders. Girls no longer knew how to act around guys, and guys were even worse. But luckily for Tim he had a younger sister, and it wasn't much of a help but it did help a little. It also made him appreciate girls more than he would have. He had to have some respect for them. It was only when Sarah had attempted to teach him how to braid so he could do her hair at the back that he found out how difficult it must be to be a girl…

Silnce descended on the room and Tim turned to see what had caused it. Mr Morrow was an intimidating man, both in looks and personality. His face was well lined from years of teaching and yelling at pupils to tighten their ties. Right now he was standing at the podium with what he was trying to make look like a open, kind happy expression. He looked slightly constipated.

"Good morning. For those who do not know me I am the head of Maths here. I will be running this thing. I hope you all have fun. If you could listen for your name and who your pupil will be then we can get started right away."

He then proceeded to read down the list of pupils and their corresponding group of pupils.

"… Timothy McGee and Year 2, Hammerdale Primary."

Year 2. McGee was in an utter state of panic. Year 2! How was he supposed to teach anything to year 2! He could probably deal with the older ones, maybe even have a decent comversation with some of them but yr 2! He searched the line for anyone who would swap with him. With no luck.

As the classes started to move away from eachother and the pupils start to shepard their children off he was left with a dozen small children, all looking up with eager expression and smiles. McGee sighed. This was going to be a long morning…

Tim had just settled his class in with some calculator colouring when he heard a few bangs on the door. Tim shot a worried look at the children who apparently had not noticed anything, still engrossed in their colouring in.

_**Oh my gosh**_, McGee thought to himself, _**What if its some crazed pycopath who is coming to kill the children? What do I do?**_

He cautiously made his was to the door and twisted the lock. Before he could put his hand on the door handle to turn it, the door was already opened and he felt a warm body shoot into his arms.  
>"Timmy! I'm so sorry I'm late! My brother burnt his toast and set the fire alarm off and we had to try and switch it off. And mum couldn't hear it because she was born deaf, which is a shame but doesn't stop her doing anything. Other than swimming, because she had this weird thing to do with water through her ears and to her brain, and so she wasn't any help. And dad was away at work before we got up in the morning, even before Ben who gets up really early to watch the cartoons. An-"<p>

She was cut off by McGee.

"Abs!"

She stopped talking and turned to the class, who had only tumed around when she had entered. He face lit up.

"Yay we get the little ones!"

Tim smiled. At least one of them was happy…

Tim stood back and watched while Abby had the class playing an animated game of FizzBuzz. The children who had previously been shy and quiet were now all jumping around animatedly, all eager to grab the attention of "Miss Abby". Tim smiled as he watched her interact with the childrem, taking her time to make sure each of the children understood. And she already knew all their names even though she had only spent 30 minutes in the classroom. She was amaz-

Tim stopped his train of thoughts there. This was dangerous ground. Back in his (even) nerdier days he had once tried to ask her out, just to be shot down quickly. That was then. She had changed. He had definitely changed. But he was reluctant to damage the friendship that they had built between them. It was too precious to him, and she was worth more that that. He was just going to have to sit and dream. He smiled at Abby as she looked over at him, as if reading his mind. Her eyes danced with the life and fun. Tim promised himself that he was going to make her happy, no matter what it took. Even if that meant giving her to someone else. As long as she was happy…

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	7. Chapter 7

_**Hello!**_

_**thankyou muchly for the reviews! ive hit 40 reviews! :D :D WOW! :D :D **_  
><em><strong>i decided to update because i was in a kind of writing mood today... dunno why... <strong>_

_**but anyways reviews please! and im introducing a charecter who you all seem to love to hate... :P so stick around! :)**_

_**DISCLAIMER: i dont own :(((( **_

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><p>Chapter 7<p>

"You auditioning today Tony?"

Tony turned around to see a leering Sacks in his face. Tony sighed. Why did Ronald Sacks feel the need to annoy Tony? He had never done anything to him. It was just some innate need to annoy him that Tony hated with every fibre of his being.

"You don't strike me as a musical theatre kinda guy Slacks," Tony replied, trying to keep his cool. He was better than that piece of filth. He would not lower himself to that level. But then again, it wouldn't take much for him to loose it…

"It's with the Grammar."

That explained a lot. If there was anyone who would shamelessly sign up to an activity just so he could check out the girls, it would be Sacks. Tony was about to turn around and leave when he heard Sacks' next words. The words that stopped him in his tracks.

"Ziva's going to be there. Maybe I'll take another shot…"

Tony twisted himself around and took three long strides over to Sacks and stood right in front of him, face just inches away from him.

"When will you get it through your thick head that she is off limits!" he yelled, with more anger than he knew he had. He was angry at Sacks for his remark but there was something else fueling his angery passion. Feelings that he had towards Ziva possibly?

"What are you, her father?" Sacks had not given up yet.

"I am a bit too _American_ to be her father. Or is race and nationality something you are unable to comprehend due to your sheer lack of _intelligence_?"

This was then that McGee, who had been there from the beginning, felt the need to intervene. If Tony was in search for a scholarship getting himself expelled for violence would not be good way to start his first impressions. For any of them. Grabbing Tony from behind McGee dragged him from the room. Tony was surprised at his strength and put up a valient fight, but failed to do anything other than make McGee tighten his grip on his arms. If it had been any other situation McGee would have imputted some teasing words, something about how he was not as weak and weedy as he used to be. But it was not another situation. And Tony was so angry he was most likely to knock him out if he even suggested such thing.

McGee sat down on one of the benches lining the large patch of grass in the middle of the school. Reluctantly Tony sat down beside him and closed his eyes, letting the autumn sunlight filtering through his closed lids calm him down. He knew that he was not in a rational state of mind, and when people were not in rational states of mind they did stupid things. He had learned that much from his nearly always-intoxicated father. And he was not going to behave like that.

McGee waited until he saw the tension leave Tony's shoulders before he spoke. He did not want to be at the receiving end of DiNozzo's fury. He was smarter than that.

"You could always just audition," McGee said. In his mind and using his reasoning that way Tony could keep an eye on Sacks incase he made any advances on Ziva.

Tony let out a bark of laughter.

"This is me. I don't do all singing and dancing things like that," he said, incredulous.

"Chicken."

Tony narrowed his eyes. McGee, _McGee_ of all people, was calling him chicken. And he was quick to deny it.

"Am not!"

McGee just gave him a look and a smile. Tony sighed.

"FINE!"

After Tony had left to go and take his anger out in the school gym Tim took out his smart phone. He scrolled down his list of contacts and sent a quick text.

_Mission accomplished. All good at your end?_

He got a reply almost immidiately.

_Working on it. But looking promising- Abby xx_

Tim smiled to himself. He was not entirely convinced that Abby's plan was going to succeed. But he was going to help anyway. It was like fate when Sacks decided to bring up that argument with Tony, and it gave McGee an excuse into bring the auditions for the musical into conversation. Wasn't that supposed to mean something? Maybe it was the world telling him what to do. I mean, it was just a bit off fun. And besides, Abby had sent him two kisses in return for his none, and all he had done is got Tony in the right place at the right time. The right place being the drama auditions and the right time being when they were held. That had to mean something, right?

"The answer is still no Abby," Ziva said frustrated. Why was Abby so adament that she audition for this musical thing. She should not have told her that she used to dance back in Israel. She should not have told her that she was very good and received a dance scholarship to one of Israel's best dance acadamy, which she had turned down as instructed to by her father. Or maybe it was something else that had motivated Abby to get her to be so damn annoying…

"Please Ziva! I'm working light and sound and I don't want to be on my own!" This was partially true. She was helping with light and sound. And none of her other friends were helping. Other than a couple. But Ziva did not need to know that…

"Ask Sarah."

"She's studying for the chemistry Olympiad or something. PLEASE ZIVAAA!" Abby was not going to give up . Timmy had managed to convince Tony to go along, and that was _Tony _that they were talking about. She had to get Ziva to those auditions. Then they would both be casted and then both fall in love and both live happily ever after! And then they would name their babies after her in gratitude!

Ziva sighed. There was going to be no way of keeping Abby quiet other than to agree with her. She had learnt that early on in their friendship. But just because she accepted it did not mean that she would have to enjoy it.

"FINE!" she sighed and Abby grinned.

That was how at four o'clock Anthony DiNozzo found himself more out of place than he had ever felt in his entire school life. He could cope with CCF. He could cope with being the lead singer of a band with no name. He could cope with having a father who did not know what school he went to, let alone how old he was and when is his birthday. Yes, he could deal with that. He could not, however, cope with being in a drama studio full to the brim with girls and guys stretching and doing vocal excersises all in leotards. And that was including the guys.

Tony scanned the crowd for a familiar face, anything that could possibly help him make sense of the scene before him. His eyes fell on a familier figure bent over stretching against the wall and he walked towards her. He could only see the back of her figure, but he already knew who it was. She was bent at the waist, palms touching the floor as muscles tensed and strected.

"Stop staring at my ass…" the bent over figure said and Tony grinned.

"It's a nice view," he shot back. Ziva straightened herself back and glared at him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. The musical theatre scene was not somewhere that she expected to see him.

"I'm here for the view." The lie tripped easily off his tongue. He almost grimced at how similar to Sacks he sounded at that moment. But it was not like he could tell her the truth. Its not like he could tell her that the reason was to protect her honor. She would have probably not appreciated the whole "me Tarzan, you Jane" sequence. If she had been in Tarzan, she probably would have strangled Tarzan with his own rope and swung off into the sunset in nothing but an animal skin bikini.

Tony had a stupid grin on his face as he conjoured up the image in his mind. That grin made Ziva want to both slap him and kiss him. Idiot…

Cynthia Sumner walked into the drama studio and surveyed the scene infront of her. She was the head of drama, and the musical were always the most difficult to run. That was why they were only done every few years. But she could not put off the inevitable forever and had called together the auditions early on in the school year to maximise practise time. She could tell that some of the students that stood in front of her now were taking this thing seriously, and some were here for a laugh. And it was her job to separate them, to find the talent amoung the hormones and emotion. She sighed. Let the challenge begin.

"Alright, listen up!"

Silence fell as soon as they heard ther voice echo throughout the drama studio. It was huge and spacious with wooden floors and thick black curtains that blocked out the rest of the world. Perfect for anyone who wanted to escape, just to act or sing and dance without the world watching. A haven.

"We haven't got much time, so we need to get started as soon as possible. This half of the room, can you all follow Gareth here, he'll start you on the acting. The rest of you stay here. We are going to dance."

Tony stood at the edge of the room as he watched Miss Sumner demonstrate the dance that she was teaching them. It was the basic two person dance, with a couple of twists and lifts in a few places. Once the music stopped there was a burst of polite clapping and Miss Sumner smiled.

The hall was split with girls at one end and guys at the other. They were paired off from there and moved to different parts of the room to space use all the space. Tony reluctantly moved away from Ziva as she was escorted to the back by a tall tan sixth former. He turned to his dance partner. She was fairly pretty with brown hair pulled back off her face in preparation for the dance. He introduced himself.

"Anthony DiNozzo."

"Jeanne. Jeanne Beniot."

By the end of the dance class Jeanne was in fits of laughter. It had been a while since she had found dancing so funny. Tony somewhat lacked in technique, but his bounds enthusiasm had no limits, so Jeanne was laughing the entire time.

After the initial lack of enthusiasm at being paired with someone who was not Ziva he had found out that he liked this Jeanne girl. She was smart and witty and funny. And she had the most beautiful smile.

"So why are you here? You don't strike me as this kind of guy," Jeanne said gesturing towards his arms which were currently wrapped around her waist in the traditional waltz position. Tony grinned.

"I'm here because a friend emotionally blackmailed me into doing this," he said, figuring that the truth was the best option. Jeanne let out a laugh. She had a really nice laugh…

"What about you, Ms Benoit?" Tony asked. She smiled at the name but gave her answer anyway.

"I love music and drama. Its just amazing, like expression emotions that you didn't even know you had. Like coming alive by being someone else," she replied.

Tony could see why she liked it. It was like being someone else. He could be someone else, he could forget about his father and expectation and just be someone else. Jeanne would never know, she knew nothing about his past, so he could just become someone else. He could pretend anything he wanted to do.

"I love drama too," he said, starting off the façade. He could learn to love it, right? And maybe this version of Anthony DiNozzo could love drama. He could make an entirely new person if he wanted.

Jeanne smiled to herself stupidly. This Tony was so charming and handsome. And he loved drama almost as much as she did. It was a rarety to find a guy who liked drama, or admitted to it anyway. They thought it was not manly. But there was nothing un-manly about Tony…

The acting side of the audition was no problem. Tony found that he could actually act. He had always been good at pretending, but now he had a use for it. It came naturally after years of practise. Even if his practising was slightly less conventional…

Miss Sumners called him back after the audition just as he was leaving with Jeanne.

"You, what's your name?"

"Anthony DiNozzo."

"You did well, I really feel like you connected with your character, that you felt empathy towards who you were playing. That was good."

Tony kept smiling but inside he was laughing his head off. Was she for real? Of course he couldn't connect with his character, he was nothing like him! How was he supposed to be in any way similar to an orphan who finds love and sings about it all the time? Of course he was nothing like that!

But the new Anthony could be like that. He could become this creepy orphan kid who falls in love, right?

He was brought out of his thoughts by Ms Sumners again.

"And you," she said looking at Jeanne, "you have potential."

Jeanne managed to hold in her happiness until Ms Sumners was well out of earshot. However once she was thought she threw herself into Tony's arms sqealing.

"Wow! She might cast us!"

Tony smiled, trying to look as if she shared in her joy. And he must have been convicing because she just hugged him even more. Tony wrapped his arms around her and breathed in her scent, a mix of weirdly girly perfume and sweat. But her smile was bright and she was willing and friendly. Yes, he could definatly get used to this whole new musical theatre persona thing…

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><p><strong><em>i hope you all like how ive written Jeanne. Yeah sure so accused Tony of murder but i dont like it in these things when she's always the bitchy cheerleader person... i just think she was in love. but then again she did accuse tony of murder... hmmm... may she have her intestines ripped out and driven over in a truck (cyber cookies for anyone who can tell me where that comes from ;) )<em>**

**_REVIEWS PLEASE!_**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hello!**_

_**Firstly I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPLOADING SOONER :(((( PLEASE FORGIVE ME! i have been so busy its not even funny. i am about to drop asleep any moment now. But i wanted to upload for my lovely readers and i made it extra long to make up for the less the frequent updates!**_

_**so enjoy!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: i dont own ncis or said unnamed English book. :( **_

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><p>Chapter 8<p>

Eli David sat in his study, fingertips pressed together in a typical evil genious manor, as if he knew he was being watched by someone who would use the information they had about him and write fanfiction. The sun was receeding behind the nearby houses, leaving behind a long dark shadow that grew as the hours moved on. He stared at the portrait of his three children stood neatly in a row with their arms around each others' shoulders, and was sucked into the memories of when that picture was taken…

_*5 years earlier*_

"_Smile for the camera children," a younger less aged and weary Eli David said from behind the lense of the camera. Instantly the three David children started the conpetition of who could pull the most horrific and manipulate their features in the most obscure way. Ari, being the oldest had the obvious advantage, having been pulling faces years before Tali had been walking the planet. _

"_Nicely!" Eli David shouted, but with very little real malice behind the words. Ariwas the most disobidient naturally had to have the last say and stuck his tongue out at Tali, who could only narrow her eyes at her older brother. Ziva laughed at their antics and the other two quickly schooled their expressions, all wanting to please Daddy the most and be given all the praise. Back then it was by listening and paying attention. Later on in their, for some of them short lives, they would find that it took a lot more to make their father proud. At even more difficult to receive his praise. And that for some of them the strain would be too much and the drastic would happen. _

*present day*

He lifted his head as there was a sharp knock at the door of his study. He barked in response and Ziva walked in, head held high and back perfectly straight. This was not the little girl from all of those years ago. And he was not the man who had taken the photo all those years ago. He had risen through the ranks of Mossad, and as his responsibilities and number of titles increased the time he had for his children decreased at a steady rate. Until they reached where they were now; one of his children had been killed, one had seemingly disappeared of the face of the planet, and the other being the girl who stood in front of him. Ziva was not less like the girl, more like the woman she was becoming. Every day she looked more and more like her mother who had not lived to see Ari grow up, let alone Ziva. And despite this Eli felt like he did not know his own flesh and blood.

"_Papa," _Ziva adressed him in Hebrew. Always Papa. Never dad or daddy. Occasionally father, but rarely.

"How is school?" Not that he really wanted to know. He just needed to ask the question in order to get to his purpous of the conversation.

"School is good."

"I heard that you auditioned for that musical they do?" Of course he knew. He knew it all. It was kind of like the whole "when America sneezes, the whole of the world catched a cold". Except this was when a member of the David family moved, Eli David was probably the one who moved them, most probably for political or finacial gain.

Ziva sighed inwardly, but let no sign of what she was feeling reach her face. He was probably going to tell her that she was forbidden to do it. That she should put her studies and training before such frivilous things like school musicals.

But then he said what she was most surprised to hear.

"Good"

At Ziva's obvious surprise Eli smirked and raised his eyebrows, as if he enjoyed throwing Ziva off the mark and calling her up on it.

"Integration into societies where the rich play is something that I do, even not. I am glad you took the initaitive."

Ziva moved to say something, but Eli was not finished. And no-one interrupts Eli David and survives. Even flesh and blood.

"One day the people around you will be the most influential and powerful people in the world. They have the money and the potential to do great things, things that rich kids have the money to do. They are the next genration of lawyers, politicians and world leaders. Very useful friends to have. A childhood playmate could become an international allie if the time even came."

"I took the liberty of calling the school," Eli continued, "Once Ms Sumners had heard of your skill she appointed you choereographer of this musical. You are expected at the drama studio at 1700 tomorrow." And with that he turned back to his paperwork on his desk, signifying the end of the extremely quick one sided conversation.

Ziva nodded her head and left the study as quietly as she had entered. Wow. That was a lot to take in. But she should have known that even if Eli had endorsed her extra-curricular activities it would be for some reason other that her individual happiness. But then why did it hurt so much when she heard it out loud?

Miss Sumner put down the phone on Eli David and felt a chill race down her spine. How did he get her number? He seemed friendly enough, but there was something about his voice that made her feel manipulated, that behind her back Eli David would easily stab her in the back and decapitate her without a blink of an eye. So of course she agreed to let Ziva be in the musical. It was her who suggested that Ziva help choreograph it. That had pleased Eli David, and he had hung up on her faster that way. She did not want to spend any more time talking to the man.

She had of course not just agreed to take Ziva on purely by the request of Eli. Cynthia had seen the talent in Ziva's dancing, how she moved with such grace and fluidity in comparison to the mess that was the rest of her classmates. Her ability was far beyond her years and there was something that drew Cynthia's line of sight towards her. It could have been her skill, but Cynthia was convinced it was the pain in her dancing. That the emotion was always in the way she moved, she carried an anger and agression to her movement. It was both heartbreaking and breathtaking at the same time. She was amazing. But Cynthia was curious as to how a 17 year old girl had all these emotions inside that were so angry and beyond her years. And Cynthia had a feeling that that anger was somehow linked to the man who she had just got off the phone with…

oooOOOooo

"Wow this is great!" Abby yelled as she heard the news. Ziva winced slightly at the sheer volume that Abby was able to produce from that tiny wirey frame.

"Why is that so great?" Ziva asked. Abby suddenly looked sheepish, making Ziva's curiousity mutliply ten fold. Previously she would have just put it down to Abby general enthusiatic attitude towards anything in life. And death. But the guilty look that Abby had now suggested to Ziva that there was more to it than she had originally thought.

Ziva glared at Abby, who quickly averted her eyes. Abby had figured out in the short period of time that she had known Ziva that there was no way of not succuming to the Ziva glare other than avoiding it completely.

Tim timely chose that moment to get on the bus and Abby took that as a welcome distraction.  
>"Timmy! Hey Ziva, it's Timmy!"<p>

Ziva saw what Abby was trying to do and tilted her head to one side. She was not going to forget this. But she would ask Abby more once they were alone togther.

"Hey Ziva."

"Tim."

Tim had a slight sense of hero worship every time he was around Ziva. It was getting better now that they were spending more time together, but occasionally Tim went back to thinking about Ziva the crazy ninja with ridiculous stamina rather than Ziva the friend.

"Ziva was just saying how she is choreographing the musical," Abby said, with raised eyebrow and nodding her head, as if trying to send a "secret" message to Tim. Ziva sighed. Abby was really bad at this whole "let's pass a secret message about Ziva without Ziva noticing" thing.

"Oh?" Timmy said, confused at Abby's frantic attempts to convey her message by a series of hand gestured and nodding around like a nodding dog. It looked like a strange mix of sign language and charades, all done on a full body scale. Not something you see every day.

"_Oooooohhhhh," _Tim said again as what Abby was trying to say finally came through. Ziva looked at him in disbelief. How had he managed to get a message from that?

She turned her gaze onto Tim, who visibly shrank away from her glare. She was idly contemplating which of them would break first and tell her when the bus ground to a halt in front of the school and they were shot forward a little and the recoil. Abby grabbed Tim's hand and turned to Ziva.

"We really need to go. BYE!" she said and ran off and not giving Ziva the chance to say anything.

Tim and Abby dismounted the bus at the same time after their quick escape. It was only then that Tim realised that Abby was holding his hand and did not look as if she planned to let go any time near now. He felt a blush make its way into his cheeks, but tried to supress his embarrasment. Abby was Abby. She had no qualms about physical affection, even if they were of the opposite gender.

Abby slid her hand out of his palm, apparently just realising what she had done. She turned to Tim, with a look in her eye.

"Ziva does not find out," she said. It took a moment for Tim to realise that she was talking about their plan to get Tony and Ziva together, and not their spontanious hand holding session. Tim tried to make up for his awakwardness, trying to think of something clever to say.

"If she knows, it will not be from me."

That answer seemed to satisfy Abby, so she smiled and walked off to the Grammar with a small smile on her face.

Ziva sat alone at the back of the English rrom idly flicking through the book that had been placed on her desk. It was some classic English piece of literature, written by one of the most famous English authors of all time. It was also extremely dull and repetative. How on earth did this thing get published, let alone read by hundreds? Ziva was contemplating the liklihood of her writing a rubbish book and getting it published (very small. If you were wondering) when someone walking into her line of sight.

"Is anyone sitting here?"

_**Yes. An invisible person,**_ Ziva thought to herself but she bit her tongue. Neither Abby or Sarah were in that lesson, so she was going to need to start making more friends, not enemies. And there was all that her father had said yesterday…

"Nope," Ziva said, moving her folders to one side of the desk to make room for her classmate's books. Ziva decided to be different and start the conversation off.

"I'm Ziva. Ziva David."

"Jeanne. Jeanne Benoit."

Ziva felt herself drifting off as the lesson continued. This greatly contrasted with her new friend who seemed enthralled by the story and was clinging onto every single word that came out of their English teacher's mouth. But Ziva did not understand the feeling. This was a story set back hundreds of years ago when women were considered as inferior to men. In the story a stubborn woman finds a man who looks like a bastard but he falls in love with her. Then he wins her back with his amazing wealth. Was this author trying to say that money could buy love, or that men had the right to treat women badly because the woman would forgive them?

But Jeanne did not see it that way. She saw the most romantic and beautiful stories of all time. She saw love the conquered all. It just showed how the two were so different.

"So where are you off to now?" Jeanne asked over the shuffling of folders and she scraping of chairs against the hard wooden floor as they were dismissed from the classroom.

"Drama studio. I'm dance choreographer for the musical."

Jeanne froze and Ziva looked at her in alarm. Then Jeanne smiled hugely, unable to contain her excitement.

"Me too! I have a call-back! So we're dancing today?"

"I assume so?" Ziva said slowly, so taken aback by Jeanne's eagerness. She was almost Abby-like in her enthusiasm.

Ziva had no real reason to dislike Jeanne. She just found very little in common with her. Ziva was a trained solider in the Israeli army, having seen more death and destruction than most people double her age. Jeanne was a happy English girl who had nothing more complex to worry about than the musical that she had a call back for. Jeanne was auditioning for the musical because she wanted to. Ziva was auditioning on her father's orders. Two very different people from two very different lives. Two lines that never should have met.

Cynthia greeted Ziva as she walked into the drama studio, gym bag casually slung over one shoulder with her kit inside. They sat down to talk through the musical, and which scenes required dance choreography and what would work. They stopped their conversation when the first few call-backs trickle into the studio. As they began to talked amoung themselves Ziva scanned the crowd and catagorised them in her mind. She had auditioned with some of them, so she knew what the were capable of. Despite the fact the last time she had seen them they were her competition, and not her subordinates she had still subconsciencely catagorized their strengths and weaknesses, the places that needed work. The rest of the group she had very little idea about.

As her eyes combed through the crowd she was surprised to see one Anthony DiNozzo in the crowd standing next to her new "friend". Ziva was surprised that he had got to this stage. Not many people who were there just for a laugh would have got this far. She would have thought that Ms Sumner would have got rid of them earlier on in the proccess. But apparently there was more to Anthony DiNozzo than there appeared to be.

"Alright listen up!" Cynthia called out as the crowd of pupils had grown to its correct size. Immidiately the studio went quiet, all eager to start impressing Cynthia in the hope of getting one of the few parts in the musical.

"First of all, congratulations for getting this far. Out of the 80 that auditioned you are the final 40. 30 of you will be in the production. For the rest, you have done amazing to get this far," she started.

"This is Ziva David. She is assisting my and will be the choreographer for the musical. She will be my extra pair of eyes, so all of you with potential will be noticed."

The call-backs worked in a similar way as the auditions had gone, except with an additional group of people singing. Ziva worked with the dance group and much to his joy, she was teaching the group containing both Tony and Jeanne.

As the rehersal went on Ziva began to see why Tony was there. He had the muscle that was ideal for the lifts, and his hand eye co-ordination was faultless. He technique was non-existant, but he was determined and did surprisingly well considering. And then there was his dance partner.

When Ziva walked through the steps with Tony and then left him to do them with Jeanne she could not help but notice how well they seemed to dance together, and how they complimented each other. Individually they were good, but together they were amazing. Like lovers rather than the strange battle of wills that seemed to go on between Ziva and Tony. But she had no claim to him. Why should she? Tony could dance with anyone who he wanted to, however he wanted to. No matter how good he looked, with his muscles tensing with the exersion and sweat moving down his tan arms…

At the end of rehersal Jeanne jogged up behind Ziva as she walked towards the carpark to be picked up by one of her dad's body guards. Ziva had learnt from a young age that body guards for her father also acted as her drivers, her trainers, her trainees and her masters. Not normally all at once but weirder things had happened…

"Ziva," Jeanne started. Ziva let her have a minute while she caught her breath to speak.

"Is there anything going on between you and Tony?" Jeanne continued. At this Ziva stopped walking completely and turned to Jeanne.

"No…" she said slowly, and warily. Where exactly was this going?

"So you would have no objections if I… say… went out with him?"

Ziva swallowed hard and let that information sink in. Did she mind? Obvious answer, yes she did. She didn't know why, but there was something that made Ziva feel the need to strangle Jeanne, not out of spite of her, but just so she wouldn't have Tony. Something weird made her feel strange about Anthony. He was annoying, pig headed, but at the same time funny and smart and goddam sexy.

But of course she didn't say any of this. Of course she didn't say what she thought.

"I am nothing to do with it. I am not bothered either way," she said. But of course she was bothered. Why she was bothered, she did not know…

Jeanne sent her the most huge grin and Ziva smiled back, but there was very little true emotion in that smile. But Jeanne would never know…

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><p><strong><em>I wanted to write Jeanne and Ziva meeting for fun... i just thought it would be interesting to have them like in one place...<em>**

**_oh... and cyber cookies for anyone who knows the English book im talking about in this chapter... ;)_**

**_PLEASE REVIEW! REVIEWS ARE LOVE!_**


	9. Chapter 9

**_Hello my darling readers!_**

**_So here is the next installment! i hope you enjoy it :)_**  
><strong><em>cyber cookies for <em>**_Tiva Fiva_**_ who guessed the book correctly (if you were wondering, it was pride and prejudice) also, thanks to _**_shadow ear_**_ and _**_drummss_**_ for the constant reviews! :D and Abi4Raie that may be something i write in at some point... :P_**

**_so enjoy! :)_**

**_DISCLAIMER: i do not own NCIS or said song which is mentioned... :D_**

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><p>Chapter 9<p>

Ziva sat at her desk staring and the ever expanding mountain of homework that sat before her which had steadily been growing since the previous Monday. The pile was made up of not only usual stuff that everyone did but then all the additional parts that she missed from moving to another country in the middle of her school life. Another country meant another exam board. Another exam board meant a lot more work for herto catch up on. In some areas she was fine. She was already fluent in the languages, so she had no help needed there. But then there was English. Not only was she expected to understand it, but analyse it and take it appart, try and find out why the author wrote this scene, or why the colours were used. Ziva did not see the point. "The curtains are blue"meant that the curtains were blue. What other kind of meaning could there be?

She also had her iPod plugged into her ears as she let the songs in the musical sink into her head in attempt to find the dance that showed the music and flowed with it. She was attempting to multitask, on the computer doing this thing called MyMaths and trying to choreograph a dance in her mind. Who had even thought up this maths website anyways? It was aimed at small children, with the maths not being particularly difficult but extremely dull and repetative. She was on the second page for the third time that evening, appartently there was a save button that she had forgotten to press, not once, not twice, but three times. She was _this_ close to hitting her computer screen out of frustration when her phone began to ring to some strange tune she had never heard before. After a confused moment she remember. She had leant Tony her phone and he had probably done something stupid with it when she was not looking. Idiot…

"Ziva," she answered the phone promptly, partly to stop that stupid song and partly to yell at the person at the other end of the phone.

"Ziva!" Tony said, putting such joy into the name that Ziva almost forgot why she was angry. Almost.

"Why is my ringtone a song about being sexy and knowing it?" she asked, not raising her voice but managing to pack enough menace in it to make a grown man cry. But apparently the effect was lost on Tony.

"Not your ringtone, just for when I ring you!" Tony said happily, as if expecting Ziva to give him a gold star for his intelligence. But he obviously wasn't that intelligent as he expected to live when he messed with the phone of Miss ninja in training…

"So Tony," Ziva said, looking for revenge, "I am supposed to think of you when I hear "I have passion in my pants and I aint afraid to show it"?" her voice dropping down to a more seductive tone rather than her previous "I'm going to kill you" tone.

She could here Tony gulp from the other end of the phone as he tried to control his thoughts. She was the only person that he knew who could pack so much meaning and seduction into a few well selected words. She set fire to his nerves like some of his ex-girlfriends could never dream of doing. But this was not appropriate.

Tony decided his next word carefully, trying to out-smart the ninja.

"You can think of me in your pants whenever you want, not just when you phone goes, sweetcheeks," he said, his voice also dropping several octaves as it became lower and more gravelly.

Now it was Ziva's turn to take a few discreet breaths at that sentence. That man could say so much with saying so little. She shook her head. Of course he was a smooth talker. There was a reason why he had so many knobs on his bedpost (or was it knotches?). And she was better than all those skanks. Speaking of skanks…

"So I was talking to Jeanne earlier," Ziva said, changing subject then regretting it. Why should she care about what Jeanne had said earlier? Now she was going to sound desperate and had a way of making her forget all her eloquence that her father had tried so hard to pummel into her.

Tony was also surprised by this, but Ziva's fears were not on his mind. No, he was just slightly alarmed. Jeanne was not really part of the part of his life that Ziva was in. Jeanne was a girl who thought that he loved musical theatre and dance. Ziva knew his as the player, the irratating man who had issues but ignored them as best as he could. If they even met, Ziva could ruin the delicate balance that Tony had created, a stange charade that Jeanne was slowly beginning to like. And Tony liked being Tony the musical theatre guy. He felt so much better than he really was, so much more than a player. He could see himself become that person, becoming a new person if he wanted to. But Ziva risked breaking down the wall between Anthony and the real Tony.

"So what did she say?" Tony asked, trying to sound casual.

"She asked whether I would have any issues with the two of you dating," Ziva said casually, as if she was just commenting on the weather of something that small.

Tony almost choked on the breath he was taking. And he didn't even know you could choke on air. How could Ziva talk about something like that with such a calm controlled manner? But then again, she was an Israeli ninja assasin. Could they even afford to have feelings?

"And you said…" he asked.  
>"That you were free to do whatever you want and I am nothing to do with it," Ziva replied, still calm, now bordering on icy.<p>

An awkward silence desceneded as Tony thought through what Ziva had said. But when he realised how silent they were he felt the need to fill it. He was, after all, a DiNozzo who possesed the gift of the gab.

"So when is our next tutor session?"

"Same time as last?" Ziva asked, thankful for the change in direction.

They said their goodbyes and Ziva was the first to hang up, making some excuse about the homework she got set. It was partially true, she did really have to do it all. But that was not the reason why she was so eager to stop talking to him. It was to stop before her emotions got the better of her and she said what she felt.

Ziva stood facing the bathroom mirror, waterdroplets dripping down her face. At least she hoped that they were water droplets. She knew emotion, possibly better than anyone else knew she did. From a young age she had been taught about emotion, how it was derived from Greek "motion" being "action" and "e" being "as a result of". She was taught that in the world today action led to emotion, and emotion led to action. And that if she was able to conquer this human weakness she would be the best of the best, not led by emotion and with actions not able to envoke her emotion. She was only taught about emotion as a means of manipulation, not as something that she would have to feel and fight against.

Yet she herself found the concept alien and strange. She knew she had feelings. She could not deny that. But she could not identify them. And she could not identify what they were and why the idea of Anthony DiNozzo dating someone made her feel that way. She was having a raging inner battle, somewhere between being confused and just being plain angry.

She reached for the flannel to wipe her face, removing every trace of her emotion from her face. She stared coldly back at her reflection in the mirror, resenting what she saw, what Tony had made her into. Then she turned her back to herself and switched off the light, leaving herself in darkness…

oooOOOooo

"This is the Browning pistol. It is used in the British military and has been since before World War II," Ziva addressed the class. It was their first time at the shooting range and they were all overly enthusiactic, all jostling eachother to get a better view of Ziva. She had been put in charge of this part of the course, as her aim rivalled even Gibbs'. And he was a sniper back in the day.

"There are several basic ruled when handling a gun," Ziva continued, trying to ignore the boys' irratating behavior. She was also trying equally hard to ignore Tony, who stood silently at the edge of the group. He was staring at her, and Ziva found it uncomfortable to tried her best to avoid his gaze. The logical part of her knew that he was only looking at her because she was demonstrating, like the other 50 or so other guys in the class. But it was only his gaze that she felt uncomfortable under.

"You must wear your ear protection at all times unless I tell you overwise. You must only point your gun at something if you are willing to shoot it. You must not threaten any of your classmates. This is not a toy. It is dangerous. Any questions so far?"

She scanned the crowd and saw a hand being raised from the other sideof the room. Surely someone can not have a question already?

"Yes?" she turned, to see that the hand belonged to none other than Anthony DiNozzo. So much for avoiding him…

"Have you ever shot anyone?" he asked. A murmour of agreement went through the crowd as they all wanted the answer to the question. Ziva was surprised at the question and did not want to give her answer. The answer was yes, she had shot someone. And she had not been proud of it. It was not something to tell a room full as testosterone who, knowing their levels of intelligence did not know that death was permanent. She looked around uncomfortable under the eager looks she was receiving and almost lost her temper. These guys knew nothing about the world out there. They were just big boys with expensive toys. But she had to give them an answer.

"Shooting a person is not something that should be taken lightly," she started cautiously, picking her next words carefully, "The taking of a life is not something that you are proud of," she said. One look at Tony showed that she had not answered the question to his satisfaction. But she continued anyway.

"So you line your body and gun up in the direction up to the target, keeping your body flat facing. You then raise you dominet hand with the gun. The other hand a support hand. The thumb of your support hand must be pointing in the direction of your target. This increases the quality of your aim. Then you fire." She signalled at them to put their ear protection on. Once she was certain that all of them had them securely in place then she got into position, and swiftly brought her arms up and took three shots. She brought the gun back down and pressed a button to bring the target to her. Wordlessly she slapped it onto the surface in front of her then spoke again.

"This is not just a game," she said and with that, she motioned at them to start.

Gibbs stood at the back of the class, having stepped in about half way through the session, unnoticed by the rest of the class. Ziva probably knew he was there, but made to sign to acknowlegde his presence. He was there only to supervise, and was letting Ziva run the show. He was also curious to see how she performed. She was capable, that much he knew. Her skill was stuff of unban legend, in the navy and in the ranks of Mossad.

He was surprised at her last harsh words to the pupils. But apparetly it was exactly what some of them needed. For some of them, it acted as a wake up call. They were finally getting into their heads that yes, this was all good fun, but they were carrying weapons that could potentially kill a human being. It was not a game. It never was a game and never would be a game.

Ziva walked down the row of pupils as they shot at the target. They were started off with simple bulls' eyes. Ziva did not think some of them would be quite ready for the human cut out figures. None of them were particularly exceptional. She reached McGee's station, who was surprisingly accurate. He was probably working out the bullet projectory and the angle which he needed to shoot at, taking into account the recoil and the wind direction and speed. But whatever the method he was using it was working. Ziva gave him a smile and a thumbs up and he grinned back. He had finally found something that he was good at.

Ziva walked past Tony and stopped to check his skills. He was not as accurate as McGee and became more frustrated quicker, but was not bad at all. When McGee was working with angles and numbers Tony's method was probably more hit and miss (pun intended). Tony caught her eye in his peripheral vision and she sent him a tense smile before moving off to inspect the rest of the class.

Giving the occasional piece of advice Ziva was proud to say that most of her class were progressing at a constant speed. Most of then could shoot the gun, but were not so quick at the dismantling and rebuilding. But this was only their first lesson, and who knew. By the end of it some of them might actually be not that bad…

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><p><strong><em>ok... so im not so sure about the ending, but i figured i might as well update before i lost intrest! :) so please review on your way out! :)<em>**


	10. Chapter 10

_**hello all!**_

_**I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPLOADING SOONER! THIS WEEK HAS BEEN CRAZY! :(**_  
><em><strong>so im quite happy with how this turned out! especially a certain moment that i will not spoil for you all!<strong>_

_**Please review on your way out!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: i own nothing :( **_

* * *

><p>Chapter 10<p>

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One…"

Ziva clapped her hands to the beat as the couples moved in time to her claps. Some of the couples were shuffling nervously, neither partner knowing exactly what they were doing. They were obviously there on their singing and acting talent, and not their hand eye co-ordination. Or lack thereof. Then there were the others who absorbed the choreography like it was second nature. Absorbed it as quickly as Ziva had been able to choreograph it. There were the dancers drafted in to make up the numbers, or make the scene seem larger and busier in their leotards and hair slicked back into buns. And then there was the real talent. The ones who had actual names, rather than "child 1" and "business man". The couple that made the rest of the room look like a rambling mess. The pair danced with such grace and such elegance, as if they had been dancing for years together. Or as if they should have been dancing for years together. The couple that Ziva really didn't really want to watch, but even so her line of vision was drawn to them due to their talent. That pair. Tony and Jeanne.

Ziva watched Jeanne curve her body around Tony's muscular frame as she twisted and turned, with full faith that Tony would be there to catch her. On the third beat Jeanne jumped gracefully into the air and Tony caught her torso neatly and she bent her back elegantly. Tony turned her around clockwise slowly, as if he felt scared of dropping her. He was perfectly in time with Ziva's clapping and the dancing couples in the background who actually knew what they were doing. As Ziva watched them she should have felt proud. She had taught them this. She had sat in her bedroom, imagining what the scene should look like. She was the one who had patiently walked through the steps with the slower learners, until they were bordering in actually passable. She was the one who had got them this good after only two rehearsals. But she did not feel proud. She felt jealous.

His hands were all over her, under her rib cage, on her tiny waist, their bodies moulded together in a perfect harmonious dance that seemed to have existed since the beginning of time. Ziva knew that it was irrational to feel anything at all. He was her dance partner, and by definition had to have his hands all over her. They were lovers in the play, so they were going to do much more than just dance. So what then? Was she going to throw a childish tantrum and leave the room, because she couldn't stand the thought of Tony with someone else. What was her problem?

She had feelings. For Tony, of all people. She knew that he felt it too, mo matter how grudgingly either of them acknowledged them. But she also knew that he was never going to act on it. She felt envy, hate, anger, a barrage of emotion that threatened to spill. She would never let them spill, she promised herself that much. The best thing she could do was to ignore any stupid feelings she had until they went away, before she did something that both of them regretted…

oooOOOooo

Doctor Mallard was going off on one of his long stories about his childhood times in Scotland. Normally Ziva would find the old man endearing, but today she just wasn't in the mood. But it was a nice break from having to do any proper work. In all her other subjects they were going on about A-levels and careers and other boring stuff. Ducky seemed to be the only teacher who still believed that learning could be fun. And Ziva felt like the was actually learning something through his rambling teaching methods.

He was reaching the ending of his tale when the bell rang, much to the relief of some of the class.

"Errmmm… I will have to tell you the ending next lesson. Now have a wonderful lunch all of you!" he said cheerfully and the class left in a loud ramble of chairs scraping against the flooring and chatter. Ziva was the last out of the room, and was about to leave when Doctor Mallard knocked all of his notes and folders off the side of the lab bench and onto the floor. And no matter how much of a bad mood Ziva was in, she was not about to just leave him.

"Thank you, my dear," he said as they gathered up the papers together. Ziva took an armful of papers.

"Where do you want these?"

"If it's not too much hassle…" he started, but Ziva cut him off.

"I insist."

Doctor Mallard smiled a warm smile back at her, making Ziva smile properly for the first time that day.

"Then I must insist that you call me Ducky," he replied, and he offered her his arm as they walked to his office.

When Ziva entered Ducky's office she was immediately struck by the memories that were encased in those old walls. There were photographs on every single wall, some of them with a young Ducky, and some familiar faces that Ziva did not expect to see.

"Is that Gibbs?" she asked, pointing to a photo with a young Ducky and who looked like a young Gibbs beaming at the camera in a fishing boat.

"It is indeed. We have been friends since Jethro came out of the marine core back in the day. That photo was taken in Scotland when I was 30 years old. Jenny wa-"

"Jenny Sheppard?"

"The one and only," Ducky smiled, "Would you care for a cup of tea. My way of saying thank you."

Normally Ziva would not have accepted the invitation, but Ducky seemed like such a genuinely charming man that she could not resist.

As the pot was brewing Ducky rattled on about the events which had led up to that photo being taken.

"We were fishing in Scotland up in the lakes on the side of the river. With very little success. Jethro decided that it would be of interest to temporarily borrow a fishing boat that was moored off the side of the lake. That is how he put it. And stupid enough as I was I agreed. It was only when we were in the middle of the lake when the owner of the boat turned up. Turned out he had just gone back to his car to pick up his things. That was when Jethro rang his girlfriend, Jenny at the ti-"

"Wait, Gibbs and Jenny?" Ziva said incredulous.

"Yes indeed. She had to come and distract the poor man so we could return his boat in one piece and convince him that he was going mad. At the end Jenny let us have it. She was trying to enjoy her shopping trip when she had to bail us out. We were sent to bed with no partying that night." Ducky smiled at the memory.

Ziva knew very little about Gibbs, but as she learnt more she found him somehow even more mysterious than he used to be. From what she had seen of him so far he was a stoic man who said very little. But according to Ducky's account he used to be on the wild and crazy side. And then there was Jenny…  
>Jenny had been in her life for as long as she could remember. Her father had never liked her, but she was a childhood friend of her mother so her father could do very little to stop her seeing them. Jenny had been there at her birth, but when Jenny took the job in England it was difficult for them to meet. Ziva had not seen her in years. Not since the funeral...<p>

"So," Ducky settled himself down in front of her, having handed her tea to her. She blew on the edge of the cup delicately, smiling up at the man.

"You seem, troubled," Ducky started. Ziva looked up in surprise and Ducky just laughed.

"Do not be alarmed. It is not your lack of tact. I am just good at reading the living, as well as the dead."

Ziva chose to ignore the comment about reading the dead. Everyone knew about Ducky's brief stint as a medical examiner, so this was not news to her. She stared down at the cup in her hands. The fine bone china clinked against her short nails as she contemplated on what to do. She could lie to the man, it would not be particularly difficult. But she didn't really want to lie to this man. He seemed so friendly and kind, she would feel forever guilty if she did not tell him the truth. But there were alternatives…

"Nothing that I cannot handle," she said with a fake smile that did not quite ignite her eyes like Ducky had seen occasionally.

"Boy trouble?" Ducky guessed, and judging by the stiffening of her shoulders, he had guessed correctly.

Ziva winced at the choice of words that Ducky used. But it was true. That was all that she was experiencing with Tony at that moment. And yet there was more to it. Rather than something when people are fallen for due to their looks, or the idea of feelings, it was more like actual feelings. And it was not a good thing.

"Who has been so lucky as to attract your attention?" asked Ducky, ever the charmer. But Ziva could not say anything, not until she was entirely certain about what she was feeling, and definitely not certain enough to say anything to anyone.

Ducky just brushed off Ziva's apologies and just smiled. He cut off her rambling quickly but did get a final word in there.

"I am here if you want to talk."

And with that Ziva left, her mood lightening considerably.

She walked into the music school a few minutes late after grabbing her lunch and speed walking to the room. Scribbling her name down on the sign in sheet she smiled sickeningly sweetly at the music teacher who was on duty. There always seemed to be one lurking the corridors, in search of anyone messing around or with the opposite gender. Sometimes Ziva felt like she was in Victorian England rather than the 21st century.

She opened to the door and caught sight of Tony and his smile. And her mood changed yet again. His stupidly wide smile. Was there any reason to be so painfully happy? She was almost too caught up in her anger that she didn't realise how many amps they were setting up. Almost. After a quizzical look in Tony's direction he gave her the answer.

"We wanted to do a song with female vocals in it, and you're a girl," Tony said, in his usual stupidly pointing out the obvious way. Ziva gave him a glare, but this apparently did not put his off. He sent her one of his huge smiles but Ziva refused to smile back. Yes, she knew she could sing, but why should he be able to order her into doing it?

"Who will play drums?" Ziva asked, trying to find a way out of it.

"Palmer," Tony answered quickly. Ziva apparently had no say in this. She could have kicked up a fuss, she could have refused to do it. But when Tony had said it, it was like he was issuing her with a challenge, and Ziva was not one to ever to back down from a challenge.

They set up the rest of the guitar amps fiddling with the volumes and settings until they were all satisfied with the levels. Palmer hit his sticks together and the intro started. Tim kicked in on the lead guitar, and she heard Tony take a breath to start on the first verse. As she listened to Tony singing those lyrics she closed her eyes, the words hitting too close to her current situation. She wasn't in love with Tony. But there was a feeling that he invoked in her, something that she had never felt before. And it was frightening. Frightening how much control he had over her. She opened her eyes and saw Tony staring right at her as he sang the words. She walked over to her microphone stand, eyes still locked with his. She knew her cue was coming and soon she would have to sing those words at Tony, of all people, as he sang the words straight back at her. The thumping of the drums matched the pounding of her heart. She took a deep breath.

It wasn't as bad once she had started. The music seemed to come to her, like it never had before. The song was made for her somehow. She became lost in the lyrics, pouring more emotion than she knew she had into the singing.

The song was drawing to a close and Tony pulled his mike from its stand. Ziva mirrored his actions until she found herself standing in the middle of the room, her face so close to his as they sang every word to each other. The sound of Palmer giving it his all on the drums added to this insanity of the moment. He was actually really good, and Ziva was surprised that Tony had not just made him drummer. She pushed those thoughts aside as her eyes locked with Tony's and she felt a pull towards him, something that she couldn't stop and did not want to stop. He seemed to be feeling the same as the last crash of the cymbal sounded and their lips met is an earth shattering kiss.

She met his lips with such hunger, and Tony was eager to reciprocate. His hand came up to cup her neck as he kissed her deeper and harder, almost to the degree of pain. But Ziva was giving it back as good as she had. She nipped his bottom lip savagely, but he did not seem to mind. He was too busy loosing himself to her, his mind, his body, his soul. She had him now.

They drew apart and rested their foreheads against each other, both taking shuddering breaths, trying to recover from the burst of passion. They room had gone completely silent as the rest of the guys took in what has just happened. Tim and Palmer both had expressions of disgust on their faces, they had both known Tony since they could remember, and did not appreciate the show. Vance looked as blank as ever but gave the impression that he had been expecting some explosion of all that built up emotion.

Ziva opened her eyes and the truth of what she had done dawned upon her. Her eyes widened in horror and she backed away. Not bothering to pick up her drumsticks, she ran out of the room as fast as she could, never once looking back.

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><p><strong><em>EEEKKKK! TIVA KISS! :D<em>**

**_reviewreviewreview please! :)_**


	11. Chapter 11

_**HELLO!**_

_**ok, its been a while. sorry about that... but music is basically monopolizing the entirety of my life right now. but in between i have been writing so this is the product! its a little on the short side, but i figured it was better than nothing!**_

_**loves!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: i own nothing **_

* * *

><p>Chapter 11<p>

The bullets slammed into the target with such force, the target the channel of all the frustration from the person at the other end of the gun. Round after round was released from the barrel, and the recoil was not enough to deter her. If anything the pain added to the satisfaction of hitting the target. The physical pain helped the emotional seem smaller somehow. She emptied the last of her bullets into the target and let out a choked sob, before resting her hands on the surface in front of her and bending her head in a sign of defeat. She closed her eyes and let her emotion wash over her. What had she been thinking? She had always prided herself in having control over her emotions, and yet she had let herself be drawn into the words and emotion of someone else, and acted so irresponsibly, so rashly. Her slip in judgement for just one moment was enough, enough to mean that mistakes were made. And mistakes were something that she could not afford.

She jumped slightly as she heard soft footfalls behind her. For a moment she feared that it was Tony, but a quick replay of the sound in her mid showed that it was someone heavier, and better at treading carefully. She snapped her eyes open, and tried to rid her expression of anything, of surprise, of heartbreak, of emotion. Turning around she saw the figure of Gibbs in the corner of the room, leaning back against the wall of the firing range. He was sipping and cup of coffee calmly, as if waiting for the sound of the gunshots to diminish.

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you," Ziva said. She knew she was probably not supposed to be there. She was so caught up she did not process the idea that she may be disturbing someone. It never dawned on her that pupils would not be allowed in the firing range whenever they felt the need to blow off some steam. That could result in all kinds of things…

"Don't apologise, it's a sign of weakness," Gibbs said, with a smile in his voice. Ziva let out a small smile.

"Do you have a lot of those rules?"

"Maybe," he smirked, making it clear the answer was a yes.

They stood in silence for a moment, both trying to figure out what the other was thinking. After much deliberation and internal debating Ziva eventually decided that she was not going to question him, that it was going to be better and easier to just see what happened, come what may. She moved to the table in the centre of the room and pulled out a chair and sat down, where she proceeded to take her gun apart and clean each piece individually with a small brush that was lying on the surface, clearly for that use.

"Who taught you to shoot?" Gibbs asked abruptly, breaking the silence that had descended on the room. He had been watching her the whole time, since she entered to the firing range to now. At first he had come out of his office to ward of his visitor, thinking it was just another of the kids messing around. But when he had seen it was Ziva, he had sensed that her motives would be more complex than to have a laugh because someone dared them. He had watched her shoot, and from years of experience he could tell that something was wrong. It was something in her stance that was more ridged than it had been previously, and her body language was all messed up. Overall he assessed that something was wrong. Big time. And then she had bent over in defeat and that was the final straw. He had to make his presence known.

Ziva was surprised at the subject choice. But she was also relieved that she was not going to have to talk about what it was that had made her so emotional.

"My father believed it was an essential skill to have," she said, not fully answering the question. Yes her father had been the one to issue the order for her training. However it had been her older brother who had taught her everything that she knew.

"Who is your father?"

Ziva was surprised that Gibbs was not aware who her father was. But it was a nice change to the usual hero worship and stupid about of respect some people seemed to have for her father. However she did see their reasons. Eli David was a powerful man, not only in Israel but in most of the world. He had began life in the Israeli armed forces, before finding that he was better at the political side to life, and left the brute force and violence to his minions. To some, his tactics were seen as what they were, a little under decent. But others did not look so far into his success, and only saw his achievements rather than the price it took to achieve them.

"He is rather influential in Israel," Ziva said, keeping the details as vague as possible.

Gibbs noticed this. He had seen people avoid certain subjects skilfully, just as Ziva had. The difference between them was that they were grown men, who had been trained in the art of deception and lies. And she was a 17 year old girl.

Gibbs felt the urge to hug the child. This Eli David should have been honoured that he had such a beautiful daughter. If Gibbs had the privilege to have his daughter grow up, he would have as sure as hell not treated her like Eli had. He would have let her be what she was, a girl trying to find her place in this world. Not some young killing machine. He would have told her that it was OK to feel, OK to not be at her best all of the time. He doubted that these words were anything that Ziva had heard before in her life.

He was going to offer some words of comfort to her, but he had never been so good with his words. He wanted to reassure her that there was always someone who she could talk to, no matter what was going on.

"If you need to talk…" he left the sentence open ended, and Ziva nodded in understanding. She knew where she could find help if it was needed. She smiled and Gibbs left as silently as he had arrived. And she went back to cleaning her gun.

oooOOOooo

"I'm so sorry for the late notice…" Ziva said, wiping her feet violently against the welcome mat. But this was Ziva. Everything she seemed to do was violent. Including kissing Tony… She pushed those thoughts aside.

"Not a problem," Jenny said with a smile. Every day Ziva was looking more and more like her mother, and was beginning to adopt some of her mannerisms. It was like seeing her dead best friend all over again.

"Dinner will be ready in a minute."

The sound of cutlery scraping against their plates was the only sound that echoed around the huge headmistress' house. Jenny started of the conversation.

"So how are you?"

The question did not hold its usual meaning. Instead of it being a carelessly thrown around greeting, Jenny actually wanted to know how Ziva was. How she had been for all those years of her life that she had missed. How she had been after the funeral, after everything.

"I am good." Ziva tried to sound like she meant it. She was not about to unburden the entirety of her life onto Jenny. Years ago she would have not hesitated and told her everything. But years of broken promises and shattered dreams made her more reserve about trusting people. She now knew that trust could only lead to heartbreak and disappointment. And pain. Which was never fun…

"And how is your father?"

Ziva smiled at that question. That she could answer truthfully.

"My father is my father," and that was all that was really needed to explain her situation. Ziva changed the subject quickly.

"I was having tea with Doctor Mallard today."

Jenny smiled at that. She should not have been surprised that Ducky had taken the young woman under his wing. He was always good at spotting those who were in need of help. Just like she had been all those years ago after Jethro had left.

"He told me a rather interesting story about you and Gibbs."  
>Speaking of the man himself. The name was all it took to make Jenny pause between breaths. And this did not go unnoticed by Ziva, her being a trained officer and all. She raised her eyebrows, but tactically chose to say nothing.<p>

"Nothing more than PG I hope… you are still far too young for some of that stuff," Jenny said smirking. Ziva tried to look incredulous, but failed miserably, causing Jenny to laugh.

"Just a tale involving a man and a stolen boat."

Jenny could remember that day well, and smiled at the memory. Jenny shook herself, ridding her head of the memory and a certain man who played a starring role.

"So anyway…" Jenny continued quickly, trying to hide her obvious changing of subject, "how are you finding the school?"

"It it…" Ziva searched through her vocabulary to find the appropriate word, "different."

Jenny laughed. This was the girl who had spent more time in army training camps than in educational institutions. Of course it was going to be a bit different.

"Are you coping?"

"I am coping."

"And…" Ziva could see the evil genius glint in her eye," extra-curricularly?" she said suggestively. Ziva got a glimpse of who Jenny used to be before the job had taken over her life. That evil genius glint in her eye could never be associated with anything good…

"I have no clue about what you are talking about…" Ziva said, pretending to be the innocent one. Jenny just raised her eyebrows.

"I will find out, even if you do not tell me. I am both your god-mother and the headmistress."

"Is that a threat?"

"Yes."

Ziva grinned and stuck her tongue out childishly. Then Jenny grew serious.

"If you ever want to talk…" she left the sentence open ended for Ziva's own interpretation. She had said it, exactly like Gibbs and Ducky had said before. Never had Ziva felt this much concern for her well being. In the army she had kept her head down, and even though you platoon cared for you, that was less on an emotional scale but more of a physical scale. She would trust them to have her back in any crisis, but for those days where she just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. They were, less useful. She had never had so many people offer just to listen to her. And she was uncomfortable with it all. Uncomfortable with the familiarity and the obvious love and caring attitude that they all exhumed. It was the first time she had felt anything like it. And she did not understand it. She had never felt this unconditional love before. Why should these people feel obliged to protect her and take care of her emotionally? She hardly knew Gibbs, and she had only just had tea with Ducky. Why should they care about her? But she found that apart from all the weirdness and the alien feeling, she actually liked it. She liked the feeling of being loved…

Tony sat with his head in his hands on a bench outside the music school. The other guys had long since been gone, but Tony had barely taken the notion in. He was too focussed on the internal battle that was raging on inside. He was unspeakably happy. He had kissed Ziva! Amazing, gorgeous, talented, freaky ninja chick, Ziva. He would have never expected it. Not in a million years would sensible, rational Ziva kissed the guy who she obviously knew was a player in the highest order. But on the other side, he was also angry. Angry at her for running off like that. Was it that bad, facing up to kissing him? Was it so embarrassing that she daren't look him in the eye? Did she think that he did not deserve the respect of even talking about what had just happened? She had kissed him and left, just like that, for goodness sake!

Eventually the angry portion of his brain reigned victorious. While that portion celebrated, it seemed to have some strange effect on the rational logical part of his brain. And due to that unfortunate lack of rationality made his do what he did next. Made him do the stupid and unthinkable. Five words that he would regret for the rest of his school life.

**_Hey Jeanne. Wanna go out? xx_**

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><p><em><em>_**dundundun! REVIEWS! :D :D**_


	12. Chapter 12

**_Hello my amazing and wonderful readers!_**

**_firstly THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS! 80 reviews! That's crazy! :D :D_**

**_secondly... i am so sorry for not writing anything... :( but i will make it up to you! promise! :D_**

**_DISCLAIMER: i own nothing. still. :(_**

* * *

><p>Chapter 12<p>

"Hey Ziva, sorry I can't make it for our tutor session, I'm going on a date with Jeanne," Tony said, standing out of the mirror in the men's room and staring at his reflection. He winced at how the words came out and tried again.

"Hi. Ziva. I can't make this Thursday."

No it all sounded too casual. He had already decided that he had to confront Ziva before she heard Jeanne's news from someone else. He was not going to make any mistakes. He ran the risk of coming to a very sticky sudden end. Why had he even asked Jeanne out in the first place? Sure she was smart and funny and kind of hot, but in comparison to Ziva. Ziva had kissed him and what had he done? He had asked Jeanne out. Sighing he turned back to his reflection.

"Hey Ziva. I'm so-" but he was cut off by a presence behind him,

"Sorry you can't make it for out tutor session as you going on a date with Jeanne."

Tony spun around, his heart stuttering for a moment, beating faster than normal. Ziva stood behind him, leaning casually against the wall. Her expression was as unreadable as ever as she tilted her head slightly to one side. If anything she looked just mildly curious.

After Tony had regained his breath and some of his dignity he spoke.

"I have heart palpitations, you really scared me! How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to hear several versions of your little… speech. Do I really scare you so much?"

"Me! Scared of you? No…" he quickly started denying it. But Ziva just gave him a look.

"We could reschedule our tutor session," Tony said, and he winced at the words as soon as they left his mouth. They sounded so lame, even by his standards. Ziva just gave him a look and continued.

"So," she said, pushing herself off the wall to come stand closer to him, completely ignoring his statement, "You are going on a date with Jeanne," she stated. It was not difficult to see that she struggled to keep the indifferent tone in her voice. It was clear that she wanted him to think that she was unmoved, but he could tell that there was something that was bothering. It was amazing how well he could read her, even though they had only known each other for a few weeks. With those green eyes he could stare at her as he tried to look into her soul. He did this now, and Ziva felt a strange rush of emotion going up her spine. She pushed it to the back of her mind and refused to break his eye contact, despite the strange emotion that he was evoking in her. She would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her made uncomfortable.

"And if I am?" he asked, his voice dropping to a lower pitch.

"Then…" Ziva chose her next words carefully, "I would say that you are considerably less intelligent that I had previously thought you were."

Tony tried to knock that off, but he found that his response came out before he could sensor his thoughts. It was a direct connection from his brain to his mouth, making him say something that he would regret for a while to come.

"So do you consider kissing someone then running off an intelligent thing to do?"

There. He'd said it. As soon as the words were out of his mouth he regretted it. A flash of hurt crossed Ziva's expression, before she quickly covered it up with a stony glare. She took one step towards him, crowding his personal space. He tilted his head back, as if trying to avoid her glare physically.

"Are you looking for an apology?" she said quietly and menacingly.

"No, just maybe the acknowledgment of my existence, maybe?" he said. Now he had started with the anger he couldn't seem to be able to stop himself. He was angry with her, and was letting it all out in the most painful way possible. For the both of them.

"I was going to come talk to you, it was you who went and hooked up with the first slut you came across!" she yelled, her hot angry breaths hitting his face.

"Jeanne is not a slut!" he said, not particularly interested in Jeanne's pride but his being wounded by the idea he was dating a slut.

"She is if she went out with you!"

"I have standards!"

"That are clearly extremely low!"

"I don't have to listen to this!"

"Coward. You're all as bad as each other, you, your fathe-" Ziva did not have time to finish her statement when walked over to her, forcing her back into the wall. Ziva felt his power radiate off him, as she first noticed how strong he was. Sure, she had training on her side, but if it was down to brute force Tony was favoured.

"You crossed the line," he muttered dangerously, staring at her in the eye. She narrowed her eyes back at him.

"You did that as soon as you asked Jeanne out," she said, and she pushed him out of the way and left the bathroom.

Tony pressed his head against the wall and hammered his fists into it, his eyes screwed up in rage. How dare she! She insulted him, and yelled at him. But a small voice in the back of his mind told him that he deserved it. He was the one who asked Jeanne out, in the spur of the moment. He hadn't even talked to her before he did, after the kiss. Why had he done something so stupid! But then she had said that about his father and he had just lost it. He really had to work on his temper. He came this close to taking out his anger on Ziva, and he was not worried about whether Ziva would take it but what the outcome would have been if he had tried to throw a punch.

And then he felt another emotion. Guilt. Guilty that even though he was officially going out with Jeanne as of last night, he still felt something for Ziva. Lust or love? He thought it was both. Past the lust for her, he felt some kind of strange emotional connection. Something that sounded like it was out of some awful period romances with women in corsets and men in tights. Tony shuddered at the thought and walked over to the sinks to splash his face with water.

Ziva stood outside the men's room, her back against the wall and let out a deep breath. She felt tears burn the back of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. _He was not worth her tears_, she thought to herself, but she knew that really, he was. The amazingly irritating stupid juvenile handsome funny stupid man! He cockiness made her want to slap him and kiss him all at the same time. And now he was dating Jeanne. Now he was someone that she couldn't have. And that made her feel an overwhelming feeling of sadness and longing. She hadn't felt like this since the last time she had lost something dear to her. And that was her mother and her sister… she mentally shook herself before she was dragged into the past…

Ziva mentally scrolled through her timetable, praying to anyone that was out there that she did not have English where she was forced to sit next to the girl who had caused all of the argument between her and Tony. But no such luck. Maybe someone out there really disliked her. Or maybe she had worn too many pairs of heavy army boots in her time and killed off a large populous of carpet mites, and their soles had come back to haunt her for their untimely demise. Either way the world had given her a triple period of English Literature. With Jeanne. Great.

Lunch could not have gone any quicker, much to Ziva's disdain. Both Sarah and Abby noticed that something was wrong, but both chose not to say anything. Instead, Abby whipped out her phone and sent off a text.

_You ask her what's wrong._

A reply followed quickly.

_I value my life, _Sarah texted back and gave Abby a pointed look. Ziva was right in front of them, and knowing her ninja powers she would detect what they were talking about. And who they were talking about.

_But she's our friend! _ Abby asked, and Sarah could almost hear the whining voice through the message.

_I'll rock paper scissors lizard spock you for it? _Sarah asked. She was, after all, a McGee. And McGees were not renowned for their "cool"ness. Period.

_It's on, _Abby texted back.

The game was quick and silent, almost like a silent movie, with elaborate gestures and facial expressions being made by both of them. It was amazing that Ziva had not yet noticed, showing how off her game she must have been. Her ninja skills were getting a little rusty. In the end Abby reigned victorious, and Sarah had to be the one to talk to their ninja.

Sarah sidled up to Ziva who was staring off into the middle distance with a blank expression on her face. When Sarah put her hand out to rest on her shoulder Ziva jerked out of her daze, pinning the hand down against the bench where they were both sitting. There was an awkward pause as she realised what she had done. She quickly retracted her hand, with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Sorry, I really have to go," she muttered under her breath, not looking either of them in the eye. She gathered up her things and practically ran out of the dining hall. Sarah raised her eyebrows and turned to Abby.

"Something is really up with her…" Sarah said, stating the obvious. Abby followed Ziva retreating figure with her eyes, trying to figure up what was wrong. She was about to turn away when she saw Tony entering the dining room, which was odd in itself seeing as they were in an all girls school. And Tony clearly was not a girl. Tony went to talk to Ziva, but she just brushed his hand away and walked off. Now that was interesting. Abby stood up to talk to Tony, not giving Sarah enough time to stop her. Sarah lent back in her seat, put off her meal now. How could she feel like eating when one of her friends seemed to be in some kind of trouble, and another seemed to think that Tony had the answers? This was going to be interesting…

Tony was retreating back to his school. He had had the audacity to turn up at the girls school, but he had learnt early on in his high school life that if you look like you're supposed to be there, no-one asks any questions. He heard the loud pattering of footsteps behind him. But someone was apparently going to question him.

He mentally ruled out Ziva as the owner of the footsteps. She was still mad at him. And even if he had wanted to talk, she probably would have used her freaky ninja skills to sneak up on him and scare him to death.

He turned to see Abby running towards her. He smiled widely at her, then realised the expression she had on her face.

"What the hell is going on?" she yelled, and Tony was startled by her tone. This was the easy-going, happy bubbly Abby. Who was currently yelling at him. He stared blankly at her for a moment. Then the truth dawned upon him. And Abby noticed.

"Yes, I'm talking about Ziva. What is going on? She's really upset and I swear if you were the one who made her that way you are going to regret it," she said fiercely. Sure, she loved Tony, he was practically his brother. But Ziva was her friend. And any guy who hurt her friends was something she was not cool about.

"We had a bit of a misunderstanding…" Tony said, running his hands through his hair nervously. He was not looking forward to this conversation.

Abby just glared at him, yelling at him with her eyes.

"I'm dating Jeanne," he stated. Abby's eyebrows shot up.

"Jeanne? You like have nothing in common!"

"…and Ziva and I fought."

"Because you are dating Jeanne?"

"Because I said some things that I shouldn't have."

Abby could hear the remorse in his voice and she was forced to look at the turn of events from his point of view. She had to admit, Tony did seem like he regretted it, and he did feel bad. She reached out and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. This surprised him for a moment, as moments before she looked about ready enough to kill him. But he soon relaxed into the hug and put his arms around her. Abby closed her eyes and told him the motto of her life.

"If it's meant to work out, it will work out."

oooOOOooo

Ziva walked into English, where Jeanne was already sitting staring off into the middle distance. She had this serene expression on her face, and Ziva could already guess why.

She sat down, hoping that Jeanne would be too involved in her own romantic Tony-centred thoughts to notice her. No such luck.

"Ziva!" Jeanne said overly brightly. Ziva pretended to smile at her, and Jeanne seemed too happy and overexcited to notice.

"So Tony asked you out?" Ziva said. It pained her to say it with such a bright tone. But she felt bad for Jeanne. She hadn't thought much about how Jeanne may be feeling as a result of Tony. If Jeanne had been a slut as Ziva had called her earlier, then she would have had no qualms about hating her. But Jeanne was just another girl. She just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. She had not done anything in particular to hurt Ziva, just be herself. And Ziva was never going to hate someone for just being themselves. But then again there was the pain that she was causing her. She had dealt with physical pain. But this type of pain?

"Yes!" Jeanne said. Then she realised who she was talking to. Her brightened expression dampened a little.

"You are OK with this, aren't you? I don't want it getting weird between us…"

Ziva smiled tensely and forced the next words out of her mouth.

"I already told you I have no issue with it. I hope you two are happy!" she said. She hoped that Jeanne didn't hear the false note in her voice. Or see the tears burning in her eyes as she said those words…

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><p><strong><em>PLEASE REVIEW ME! POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE!<em>**


	13. Chapter 13

**_Hello! here is the next installment! _**

**_fanfiction is playing up so this chapter took a long time to be updated... sorry about that..._**  
><strong><em>im not too sure about the last scene in this chapter... i would really like your thoughts about it?<em>**

**_DISCLAIMER: i dont own anything other than 2 NCIS shirts. :( _**

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><p>Chapter 13<p>

Gibbs casually strolled into the headmistress' office that lunchtime. Sauntering across the plash soft rug he drew to an abrupt halt in front of Jenny's huge table, filled to the brim with student reports and other kinds of paper work. She was forced to look up, but she already knew who had come to disturb at this time of the day. Meeting his gaze she almost forgot to be annoyed, as his blue eyes flashed with emotion. Almost. Putting down her glasses she sighed.

"Can I help you, Gibbs?" she said, trying to sound as annoyed as possible. Damn him for looking that damn good. And yes, he did deserve both of those damns.

"What do you know about Ziva David?" he said, getting straight to the point. He was never one to waste time with unnecessary words. And the thought of Ziva being in some kind of trouble had been troubling him ever since he had found her at the shooting range the previous day. He had a strange gut feeling about it, something that had refused to leave him, until he had given in and done something about it.

Maybe it was the small knowledge that he had about Eli David. Maybe it had evoked the parental protectiveness, something that came with once having a daughter himself.

"Who is she to you?" Jenny asked. And of course she did not know about his past. All she knew was what he showed him. And he showed him the bastard who had left her all that time ago.

"Who is she to you?" Gibbs retaliated, not quite willing to explain his situation to her. Not here, not now. But maybe when he was ready.

Jenny sighed and stood up. She knew that there were some things that could be pushed until an answer, whether it be right or wrong, was given. There were other times, however, when any attempt was futile. And this was one of them. She knew people well. She also knew this man well.

"She is my god-daughter," Jenny said, taking some pride in the fact that Gibbs looked surprised, even if it was just for a moment. It was good to know that even after all this time of knowing her, he could learn something new about her.

"I was a childhood friend of her mother's. We grew up together, and when Ziva was born, I was made her god-mother. We have not spoken in a while," Jenny elaborated. But she was not finished, "You still have not told me who she is to you?"

Now it was Gibbs' turn to sigh. He did not have a simple answer to her question. He could just say that Ziva was one of his helpers for CCF and seemed troubled. But it was more than that. And to understand that, Jenny would have to know about his first wife and his daughter. Which she didn't. Gibbs wanted to tell Jenny so badly. The truth always seemed to be the most difficult thing to say. But shouldn't he at least attempt it? Did Jenny not deserve that at least?

"Can I take you somewhere tonight?" Gibbs asked. Jenny could feel the weight of the question, and knew that this was not just a request to spend time together. And she had a gut feeling that there was something important about it.

"Name a time," she said.

"Seven?"

Jenny nodded, and Gibbs just nodded his head and left, leaving Jenny curious about what was to come…

oooOOOooo

Tim sat in front of his computer, completing one of the laborious tasks he had been set. I mean come on, make a poster on how mobile phones worked? Really? He could hack into most databases in the country, he could take apart and re-assemble a computer in under 4 minutes (3 minutes 45.9 seconds. He had timed it.) He could more money around banks and accounts no matter how secure they claimed to be. And they wanted him to create an A4 poster. Using Microsoft PowerPoint. Couldn't they at least give him something vaguely challenging?

A knock on the door broke him out of his internal rant.

"What!" he yelled at the closed door and it opened, showing a vaguely amused Sarah.

"Someone's a little pissed off…" Sarah McGee commented, planting herself down on Tim's bed. Tim rolled his eyes and swirled around in his chair. Sarah looked perfectly at home there, flicking idly through one of his science magazines.

"How can you stand this stuff?" Sarah asked, seemingly amazed at the lack of interesting content in the magazine.

"Are you just here to insult me?" Tim asked, trying not to let the anger that he had towards this piece of homework effect his tone. But he was pretty unsuccessful.

"I just thought that you might want to know that Abby was coming round, but if you want me to go…" she trailed of, grinning at her brother's spiking of interest when Abby was involved. She could tell that he was trying to look indifferent, but she had always known when he was lying. They had shared a womb, for crying out loud. She made a move to leave, just to see if he would do anything about it.

"When is she coming?" he asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. Sarah smiled and sat back down again.

"She should be here," she looked down at her watch, "Right about," the doorbell rang, "now?"

Tim heard the door open and before he could stop her Sarah yelled down the stairs.

"We're up here!"

Tim gave her the most murderous look he could muster and Sarah just grinned at him. Tim could see it now. She had planned it all. Who would have known, his sister, the matchmaker.

Abby walked into the room, seemingly as awkward as he was. She had taken off her usual huge Doc Martins at the door, making her footsteps quieter and harder to detect. It also gave Tim a good view of her florescent miss-match toe socks. Very cute.

"Well I am going to get us some drinks, wait here?" she said, and before Abby had time to answer her rhetorical question she left the two of them together.

Abby gazed around the room in wonder. Even though she had been around to the McGee household many times before, she had never really set foot in Tim's room. She had seem glances of it as she passed it, when the door was slightly ajar, but most of the time it was an eternal mystery. Until now.

The walls were lined with poster, not surprising for a guy of his age. But instead of the usual topless women, he had posters of the "milestones of science" and those posters that you had to warm you hands then touch to make the picture underneath show. His bed sheets were folded neatly in half, not tidy enough to be feminine, but tidy all the same. He had some clothes strewn across a chair clearly there for that purpose. There were textbooks and folders scattered across the floor around his desk, showing that he had clearly been busy before she had come to visit. Her eyes drifted back to the chair with his clothes on and discovered a very, not Tim style black boxers sitting on top. Abby blushed profusely.

_Oh great, now he's going think that I am a weird creepy pervert, _Abby thought to herself, avoiding his gaze.

Tim however did not seem to notice this and was more concerned about having Abby in his room in the first place.

"So," he said trying to make conversation until Sarah got back, "how is your matchmaking thing going with Tony and Ziva?"

This clearly was a good conversation starter, as Abby's eyes lit up with the prospect of making her two best friends happy. She was also thrilled at the prospect of filling the awkward silence.

"Well," she started, flopping down on Tim's bed, just as his sister had done just before. He felt some strange sense of smugness as he saw her in his bed. Some strange cave-man type style of possessiveness over having a woman in his bed. Not to mention his pride that it was Abby. Well, even if he was a computer science nerd, he was still a guy after all…

"They're fighting. Tony is now going out with Jeanne. It's a disaster," Abby said, staring up at his ceiling. She hadn't noticed before, but he had those stick on glow in the dark stars positioned all around his ceiling. And they were actually in the shapes of the constellations. She was impressed.

Tim moved to sit on the edge of the bed.

"If it's meant to work out, it will," he said, quoting back her own philosophy to her and Abby smiled at that. Abby sat up and flung her arms around his neck and Tim smiled into them. He was revelling in the feeling of her arms around him when his sister decided to burst into the room armed with a giant bottle of 7Up and a couple of plastic cups. She looked in surprise, then her expression turned smug.

"Don't. Say. Anything," Tim said sternly and Abby smirked, still keeping her arms around him. Sarah just looked even smugger (smugger. Sounded like something Ziva would say…).

"Anyway, if you're finished with my brother we should really start on that Biology poster…" Sarah said. Abby reluctantly untangled herself from his arms and without thinking placed a quick kiss on his cheek. Then her eyes widened and she left the room in a flash. Sarah turned around and gave him a knowing look, before closing the door behind her.

_Wow, _was all that Tim could think of for the next few moments. He had remembered kissing her as he got off the bus that day, so this might have just been payback? And what did she mean? Did her kiss mean "thank you for the thought"? Was it just a friendly thing to her? Why did girls need to be so confusing…

oooOOOooo

At 6:58 on the dot (not that Jenny was looking…) Jethro drew up in his black sedan ready to pick Jenny up. He had sat in his car for a moment, as if contemplating on whether or not he should go through with this plan. He ran his hands across his face, and he seemed to age a few years just with that action. Jenny Peered out from behind the curtain. He really did look tired. This must be a big deal to him. Whatever this was. Abruptly he opened the door of his car and Jenny slid further behind the curtain so he would not catch sight of his peeking Tom. Jenny walked into the kitchen and waited for the inevitable ring of the doorbell.

She opened the door a few seconds after she heard it, trying not to sound too keen.

"Shall we?" she asked and Gibbs just nodded, with no sign of his usual half smile. This must be serious. And she was about to find out what it was.

The car journey was fairly short, and Jenny had very little idea about where they were going. She had spotted a small bunch of lilies in the back seat of the car, heightening her curiosity. But she remained silent, trusting that when Jethro was ready to reveal their destination he would.

They drew up to a car park, to which Jenny was surprised to see a cemetery. It was far enough of the beaten track to go unnoticed by those who did not realise it was there, but busy enough for it not to feel isolated and creepy. Jethro came to her side of the car, and after taking the lilies out of the back seat he opened her door and closed it behind her.

_Always the gentleman… _Jenny thought wryly to herself, as Jethro guided them through the rows of gravestones. To an outsider, Jethro looked almost relaxed. But Jenny knew better. She could see the muscles in his arms tense slightly, and his face had become stiffer and less relaxed. He was on edge, and she felt like she was the one responsible for it.

Jethro came to an abrupt stop and turned 90 degrees to look her in the eye.

"We are almost there," he started, "and…" he tried to talk but there was something stopping him. He took a big breath.

"I just…" Jenny put a finger on his lips. She could see the emotional turmoil going through his eyes, and she did not want to see him in any more pain that was more than necessary.

"Just show me?" she asked, and Gibbs just nodded. He took the hand that was on his lips and led her expertly through the maze of gravestones. Until they reached one.

As Jenny read aloud the stones he busied himself with changing the flowers on top of the graves.

"In loving memory of Shannon Gibbs, wife, daughter and hero. Now with the angels," she moved on to the next one, "In loving memory of Kelly Gibbs. Daughter and little star. Shine on my baby."

Jenny brought her hand up to her mouth as the realisation hit home. Her breath caught as she struggled to form words as she felt the magnitude of the realisation and what it meant.

"Your wife? Your daughter?" she asked and Gibbs did not reply, but kept his head down. She put her hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look at her in the eyes. When she did she saw the truth in his eyes.

"My wife. My baby," he said, confirming her thoughts, and closed his eyes. He was so scared that if he opened them she would see the tears that he had held in for so long. All those years that he had not told anyone. He had hidden it all with his many wives and failed marriage. Under such a legend, it was hard to believe that this was a man capable of having a wife and a child. Jenny reached up and cupped his face in her hand. She ran the pad of her thumb over his cheek, and he relaxed a little into her palm.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she said. But she was not saying it in an accusing way. It was softly, as if she had wished she knew so she could have helped him through the pain. He just shook his head and she understood. It was too painful for him to say it at the time.

"I am," she trailed of as tears threatened to fall. She could not bear to see the man she loved in so much pain, "so sorry."

Gibbs opened his eyes and she could see the tears forming in his own. Jenny felt so guilty. All this time she had been thinking about how he had left her, and he had to deal with the grief all by himself. All because she was so self centred as to think that she was the only one with problems.

"I am so sorry," she said again and this time some of the tears did fall. Gibbs closed his eyes, but a few stubborn tears leaked through his closed eyelids. He swallowed loudly and opened his eyes to see a tear trickle gently down Jenny's cheek. When he saw that he could not help himself. He wrapped his arms around her and sobbed into her shoulder. He sounded so broken, so hurt and fragile, that Jenny just wanted to take all of his pain away.

Jenny whispered softly in his ear, small nothings and words of comfort as she rocked the man that she loved through his grief.

After a few moments Jethro drew back slightly, but did not release himself from her arms. Instead he leant his forehead against hers, and breathed deeply to calm his wayward emotions. They stood there, their hands and minds seemingly interlocker for what seemed like the longest time in the world. But neither of them cared. Neither of them wanted to be anywhere else other than there…

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><p><strong><em>Please review? :)<em>**


	14. Chapter 14

**_ARGGG! STUPID INTERNETTT! !_**

**_i just wrote you a huge authos note, but then it didnt save because the internet died. i had a mini break down._**

**_ it was not pretty._**

**_anyway... thank you for the reviews! over 90 review in total for this story... that's insane! special thank yous to _**_MegpieLovesTiva_**_, _**_K8 G.H. Ducy_**_ and _**_tivaandmcabb_**_y who have review almost all the chapters so far. you guys rock! :)_**

**_anyways enjoy!_**

**_DISCLAIMER: fine. i own nothing. YOU HAPPY NOW!_**

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><p>Chapter 14<p>

Tony pulled at the collar of his button down shirt nervously as he switched the flowers from one hand to the other. He tried to find something to do, as he stood in front of the wooden panelling on the door, examining like it was the most interesting thing in the world. He had already rang the doorbell, and stood patiently waiting for it to be answered. He was about to reach over and try again when the door swung open and a man who was most definitely not Jeanne answered. He was a fairly short average looking man, who was going grey around the edges. His sharp cheekbones suggested that he may have been something in his youth, but that had been weathered down by scars and frown lines. He wore an expensive suit, Armani if Tony guessed correctly. But there was something about the man who unsettled Tony. Something that told him to run as fast as he could in the opposite direction. He gave of some kind of slimy aura, and there was something toad-like about his smile and the way his eyes flashed, as if he was always looking, never trusting. But he did not listen to his instincts, thinking that any negative feelings that he was having to others was him channelling his annoyance with Ziva.

"Hello, Mister DiNozzo. Jeanne is just getting ready. Why don't you come inside and wait for her."

Tony could not exactly refuse, the man had made it perfectly clear with the way that he spoke, despite his gut feeling. So he nodded and the man let him in. Tony had to pretend that he didn't notice how the man scanned the area in the street before closing the door, as if suspicious. This only added to Tony's suspicion on him. After all, those who looked that guilty and on guard suggested that he was doing something wrong and had something to guard…

The house was nice enough. On the drive there Tony had noted how this was on the nicer side of town, the even wealthier part that him. The whole town was a newly developed area, which stank of wealth and power. And paint. From that Tony could tell that they were wealthy, which did nothing but make him nervous. Would Jeanne have high expectations? Was she used to wealth and being spoilt? And would he have enough money to please her? Sure, his family was also wealthy, but that was not real money. This, this is what real money looked like.

After waiting for a moment as Tony surveyed the room, the man spoke again.

"Would you care for some whisky?" he asked the boy. There was something in his tone that suggested that the man had ulterior motives. Tony could almost see the layers of the question.

"I'm driving," he declined, and Tony sensed some kind of approval at his answer. Tony had a feeling that he had just found out what the double meaning was. This was all just a test, one that Tony was now determined to pass.

They sat in silence for a moment, the only sound being the man's clinking of shot glasses as he prepared himself a drink, as if trying to tempt Tony, until Jeanne walked down the stairs, fastening an earring as she went.

"Papa, have you see-" then she noticed Tony's presence, "Tony!"

"Hi," Tony replied nervously, mostly due to her father's presence, "these are for you." He handed over the flowers. White lilies. Jeanne had mentioned in passing that they were her favourites, so he had taken note and bought her some. The poster boy of first dates. He offered her his arm and Jeanne accepted.

When they reached the car Tony, always the gentleman, opened the car door for Jeanne as she got in. As he went round to his own side of the car, he could not help but take a glance back over at the house. And he was glad he had. Mr Benoit was standing in the window of the living room, his eyes unreadable from that distance. Tony felt an icy finger crawl up his spine, but he refused to let it show on his face. Instead he just raised his eyebrows at him and got into the car. _Leave him to figure out what I'm trying to say, _Tony thought to himself. He had a feeling that this would not be the last time he was going to meet Mr Benoit. And he had a strange certainty that, if his reception was anything to go by, it would be a rather slimy meeting…

The meal was enjoyable. The food and the company were good. But after the sixth time that Tony found himself not paying attention to conversation, he knew that something was up. Every time Jeanne twirled her hair around her fingers, he thought of longer, curlier hair being twisted around longer, less delicate fingers. When Jeanne laughed at one of his pathetic excuses of a joke, he couldn't help but compare her laugh with another girl he knew. . And in comparison, Jeanne laughed like a horse on helium. Even what she was wearing, made him think of that girl, and how she would not be caught dead in something for flowery and pretty He had no idea why she was in his head, even when he was with another girl. But for some reason, the only girl on his mind was Miss Ziva David.

Tony splashed his face with cold water. He had excused himself from the table, after he found himself thinking about Ziva again. This was not happening. He was Tony DiNozzo, the poster boy for first dates, the man who charm anyone, no matter how old they may be, the man who was notorious for his long string of girlfriends. Then why was it that he was making all the mistakes in the books? He had drifted off a few times, mentioned his feelings, mentioned Ziva. It was all going down. But the stupid thing was that Jeanne didn't seem to be noticing. She was laughing and smiling, oblivious to anything. And Tony wanted to keep it that way.

Returning to the table he flagged down the waiter to order deserts. Jeanne was muttering under her breath about which one to choose, indecisive. Trying (and failing) not to think about Ziva and what Ziva would choose, Tony decided to choose for her.

"One of everything, please," he said and the waiter nodded and walked off. Jeanne looked at him speechless for a moment. Tony was also having to think that decision through. He was going to have to stop being so easy going with money. With his father broke he could no longer rely on him for a steady income. He had already started using some of his college fund, which was not going to last forever. And the clue was in the name, it was supposed to be for college. He really needed to start thinking his future through. Those tutor lessons to prepare him for his scholarship or bursary application were going to have to be pretty high on his priority list. Which subsequently made him think of his amazing ninja-tutor. And the fight…

In the time Tony was thinking Jeanne managed to recover.

"You didn't have to," she said shyly, and Tony felt guilty about not paying enough attention to her that evening. She was a sweet girl, and definitely didn't deserve to be treated like that. Despite his reputation, he was enough of a gentleman to feel guilty about neglecting her all night. Not that she was intelligent enough to tell…

"But I wanted to," Tony replied, charm switched on to maximum capacity. He was going to play nice. She deserved that much at least…

oooOOOooo

Ziva felt like an outsider in their circle as she stared out of the window at the rain crashing down. She had really seen rain like this in her entire life having spent most of her life in a place where the temperature rarely fell below 15°C, and she should have felt some kind of excitement. But instead she just felt some kind of dread, something that she couldn't quite put her finger on, but a strange sense of foreboding. Her English teacher had probably tried to explain something like this to her, that the weather in books and films was a reflection of the character's feelings. But she had never felt further away to a character in a book or film. Her life was not glamorous. She was going to become a Mossad officer, and probably not live past 25 years old. She would have no long term love interest, unless it was of her father's wish and it was to secure relations with a particular family. And it was more of a business agreement that a romantic interest. In books and movies, the tragic heroine somehow managed to look graceful and beautiful in the most tragic of circumstances. But, she thought wryly, it was difficult to look beautiful in army boots and her uniform. She shook the thoughts out of her head and turned her concentration back on the scene in front of her. They were all there, McGee, Abby and Tony. And yet she still felt so alone. And that was because an old friend was coming to visit. An old friend who she had heard so much about, that had been praised and worshipped by Abby, who McGee had quietly respected, and who, in Abby's words was "the only one who would argue with Tony and win". That added on to the fact that she and Tony were not speaking made it even more uncomfortable. She had no idea how to act, how to behave, how to feel. It was amazing that Abby had even managed to talk her into it.

_***EARLIER THAT WEEK***_

"_Come on! You have to come!" Abby had said, in an overexcited tone. As soon as she had heard that her old friend was coming back to visit she had rang all of her friends to organise a get together at her house. And even though she had only known Ziva for a short time, Abby still accounted her as one of her best friends. _

"_I don't know Abby…" Ziva said uncomfortably. She did not want to feel like the third wheel of the party, and would feel uncomfortable to just be sitting there when the others were talking about the "good old times". She didn't think she could handle that, what with not being on such great terms with Tony. _

"_Come on Zee!" Abby said. But it was not working. _

Right_, Abby thought to herself, _I'm thinking that this is time to employ a new tactic. Begging clearly is not working…

"_It would mean a lot to me. You are my friend, right Ziva?" Abby said, trying to sound sad. It was a good thing that Ziva could not see the wicked grin that was on her face… _

_Ziva sighed. Could it really be that difficult? Surely she was just being childish? Could it honestly be that bad?_

"_I am allowed to leave when I want?" Ziva said. She was not going to flat out agree. That was not her style._

"_Of course Ziva! It's going to be great! You won't regret this, I promise!" she said and promptly hung up. Ziva sighed. She was regretting this already… But she supposed that this did mean something to Abby. After all, it was not every day that Kate Todd came back to visit…_

Back in the real world the doorbell rang and Abby let out a squeal of excitement. She practically bounded to the door. McGee tactfully moved a little slower, and Tony walked a few paces behind him. Only Ziva stayed where she was, curled up in the sofa the furthest away from the door. From there she could see everything, and yet remain undetected. She blew on her cup of tea and listened to the noises coming from the corridor. The door was swung open and Abby enveloped the person at the door with a huge hug. She could also detect a male voice making friendly greetings. Kate had said she was bringing her "exotic new man". That had only made to excite Abby further. Which was quite something.  
>"ZivaZivaZiva! Come meet Kate!" Abby yelled from the front door. Ziva sighed and put her cup of tea down and stood up. She pushed open the door and turned the corner, retracing the steps she took on her way in. she was almost at the door when she heard Abby again.<p>

"Never mind! We're coming in!"

Sighing again (she seemed to be doing a lot of sighing lately…) she sat herself back down and waited. The door opened and a tall brunette walked into the room. She was of medium height with perfectly styled brown hair. She had one of those easy going smiles, and Ziva could see why she had gotten on so well with Abby and McGee. Speaking of Abby, she physically attached to Kate, arms around her waist and faces squished against Kate's body. Abby was not any smaller than Kate, but at that moment Abby looked like a small child with her big sister. Kate looked right at home, her arm slung protectively around her. Tony followed after, and looked like he was about to say something about how the two were together, but Kate beat him to it.

"Say something and I will not hesitate to castrate you," Kate said with malice. Ziva could hear the New York twang in her voice from just that. It was very classy, and suited her well. She could not image the woman with a British accent…

Tony shot her what he thought looked like a hurt look. Instead, he just looked like he was in pain.

"It's only been like, 2 minutes!"

"Time means nothing when it comes to insulting you," Kate quipped. Ziva decided she could probably get to like this Kate person. They could insult Tony together. Well, if she ever returned to be on speaking terms with each other…

"Caitlin, where do you want your bags?" a slightly accented voice floated through. Ziva could have sworn she knew that voice from somewhere. Like an echo in the past, a ghost. The door was pushed open to reveal the figure behind it. Before Kate could answer Ziva was on her feet in shock.

"Ari?"

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><p><strong><em>CLIFFY!<em>**

**_reviews=faster update!  
>and cyber cookies for anyone who can quote to me the frogjeanne's father imagery/description (the hard part is no finding it. the hard part is understanding what i am trying to say. ) _**


	15. Chapter 15

**_Hello all!_**

**_ive decided to name every chapter after a song or a line/lines of a song. Cyber cookies for anyone who guesses the right song!_**

**_this chapter is a little on the short side, but i thought i would upload anyway!_**  
><strong><em>THANKYOU AGIN for all the reviews and id love to know what you all think of this chapter!<em>**

**_DISCLAIMER: i own nothing :(((_**

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><p><strong><em><strong><em>Chapter 15- Why don't you stand up be a man about it, fight with your bare hands about it now?<em>**_**

Before anyone could say anything, asking any questions about how she knew who he was, Ziva launched herself at Ari. If his reflexes hadn't been so fast he would have been on the ground and out cold in a second, probably minus a large amount of blood that had previously been in his head. But having received the same training as her he knew her fighting styles and weaknesses. So instead of being flat on his back he just received a blow to the face due to the whole "element of surprise" thing, and had to jump out of the way to a leg sweeping under him in an attempt to take him down. He could taste the crimson tang of his blood as his lip throbbed where it had burst open on the point of impact. She breaths were jagged and tense, as she tried a attempt after attempt to hurt him or injure him, but each one failed to reach the designed target. As Ari fought, he was taken back into the past, into a similar situation to the one they were in now…

_**FLASHBACK**_

_Ari and Ziva circled each other on the mats, the soft padding of the gym against their bare feet as they sized each other up, willing the other to do something, make the first move. Their breath seemed magnified through the huge room that was more like an aeroplane hanger than a gym. But then again, this was Mossad, run by men who believed in the saying "go big, or go home". _

_Ziva made the first move, lashing out to Ari's left shoulder with her fist wrapped in white, but he just casually brushed it out of the way and gave her a playful jab to the stomach. It was designed to hurt her, more as to mock her and belittle her. He grinned widely as she scowled at him in the way that had made boys want to stay away from her in fear of their children, despite her tender age of 12. She brought her arms up higher with renewed determination. Sure he had always beaten her in a fight, ever since she could remember. But he had been away on some mission in the Horn of Africa for a few months now. This had been the first time that they had sparred since his return. And while he had been away she had been training like crazy, much to her father's delight and her mother's disapproval. But even from a young age she knew that her mother would love her unconditionally, no matter what she chose in the way of pass-times and careers. It was with her father that she had to win his love. _

_In her distraction Ari had taken the chance to assault her with a number of punches and kicks, none of which were meant to land. Even in fighting he had a way of protecting her that she did not understand. If anything it just frustrated her even more. At one of the blows that he did land and with some force she doubled over, feigning injury. Instantly Ari dropped his guard, going to make sure his baby sister was alright. Ziva had learnt that it was his weakness, the idea that he had done anything to hurt her. And she was planning to use that against him. It was in that split second that Ziva spun around and floored him, with more skill and force that she had ever done before, knocking the wind out of his lungs. With a foot on his chest Ziva looked down at him triumphantly. Ari's eyes were comically wide as he tried to regain his breath, feigning annoyance. _

"_That was not fair!" he finally said. But Ziva just grinned down at him._

"_The real world is not fair," she retorted, and looked over her shoulder to where her father stood watching. He smiled slightly and nodded his head in approval. Ziva's grin widened at acknowledgement. After all, most of her work had been to please not her competitive spirit, but to please him. _

_**END OF FLASHBACK**_

But this was not that kind of fight, laced with laughter and joking. Ziva was actually trying to hurt him. While he had given up all the Mossad training, she got more practice and he was rusty. America had made him go soft, and what used to be perfectly toned muscle was not as conditioned, but not completely gone. Some things stayed with them for the rest of their lives…

He took a step back, hand going to his split lip and waiting for the next blows. However these never came. Ziva felt strong arms come around her restraining her. She thrashed and fought back against her captors, but her against both Tony and McGee, it was not happening. Her head was jerking from side to side, like a ravage beast wanting revenge. She saw Abby in the corner, trying to hold onto Kate before she jumped in to protect her man. But Ziva did not see her as a threat, more as just an annoyance that she could deal with, if it came to it. She finally broke out of their bonds, but she did not charge at Ari as they had all expected. Instead, she headed out of the back door and into the garden, swinging the door open violently and slamming it shut behind her. Ari moved to go after her, and Tony tried to stop him. He reached out and grabbed his arm, but Ari shook it off violently. But Tony persisted.

"I really don't advise that," Tony said softly. Ari turned to him with a dangerous type of anger that almost made him want to step back. Kind of similar to Ziva's stormy eyes…

"Don't tell me what I could or shouldn't say to my sister," he muttered darkly, and he stormed off after her.

The rest of the room were silent in the moments after Ari stormed after Ziva. A clap of thunder broke the silence, and Tony spoke first.

"So what just happened?"

The rest of the room turned to Kate for answers. She was curled up on the couch with Abby in her lap, both of them having not let go of each other since she had first arrived. Kate was idly playing with Abby's hair, soothing her after the shock of the fight between the two siblings. Kate sighed.

"Ari is Ziva's brother. He ran away to America to escape from their father. She thought he was dead. She was left to look after her mother and sister," Kate paraphrased the past years of Ari's life. She also missed out the bits that Ari had confided her with, in moments of where she got to see the vulnerable side of him. It was well hidden, that much was certain. But she didn't know whether it was a defence mechanism or something that this Eli David had drilled into them. If it was the latter, then she would like to have a few violent words with Daddy David for hurting her man so badly…

Ziva was sat down on a garden bench, not worried about the rain on the bench that was slowly soaking through her jeans. Not worrying about the rain that was pouring down. Her hair was soaked, she could no longer tell whether the drops of moisture running down her face were raindrops or tears. Her mind was in turmoil. So Ari was alive? After all those years, when she attended his funeral, when she had held little Tali as she cried for her big brother, as she had stepped up to replace him in his unit. And not to mention how much she had lost, a friend, a big brother, a protector. And now he was back from the dead. She had no idea what to feel. Was there a manual or guide indorsed by Mossad that teaches one how to deal with raising people from the dead?

Ari saw Ziva bent over and huddled on the bench under the pear tree. She looked so small, like the child that he had left behind in Israel. He was overwhelmed with the feeling of guilt, that this was what he had left behind when he had finally rebelled against their father. At that moment all he could think about was making him suffer. It was only when he was out of it all that he remembered what he was leaving behind. Who he was leaving behind…

Much to his surprise she spoke first.

"_**You let me think that you were dead," **_she said softly, a far cry to her mood seconds ago. She had consciously switching to Hebrew, in case any of the others were trying to overhear their conversation. This conversation was not for them.

When Ari did not speak, she spoke again.

"_**Do you know how many times Tali cried to sleep when you left? Do you know how many times Ima argued with Aba after you left?"**_

Again Ari said nothing. And Ziva noticed.

"_**And now you say nothing."**_

Still he said nothing. That only made to fuel her anger, until the silence pushed her over the edge.

"_**Be a man Ari! Say something!" **_she yelled, standing up and walking towards himand firmly getting in his face. After he did nothing

"_**Bastard…" **_she said, and gave him a stony look. And that had hurt Ari, more that the split lip and the attempted concussion. It was the look that his baby sister had given him, telling him that he was not needed. Not wanted. Not loved by her any more. She stormed off back through the house and out of the front door. And Ari felt more ashamed than he had done in years.

Ari's head was in his palms and his eyes were closed as he thought it through. Little Ziva, his baby sister was all grown up. What was she even doing here? And because of that unfortunate coincidence she was aware of his presence. And she also clearly despised him. Not that he blamed her. It had been 5 years since the bombing that had taken his training cell. He was the only survivor, and managed to flee the scene. Then in a moment of pure stupidity he realised he could run. He could stop being a pawn in Eli's games and become his own person, free to do whatever he wanted, without his father's permanent condescending gaze on him. So that was what he did. He slipped away under radar, ironically using the skills that Eli had given him against him. He had found an old friend who had owed him a favour and managed to get himself smuggled into America, the land where any idiot could become President, if they wanted to. There he was not a part of Eli's game, and he allowed himself to hope and dream for the very first time. In Mossad he had not planned to live to over 20 years old. But now there he was. 23 years old living in New York, and with the rest of his life. So what had he done? He had cut his hair and changed his name. Gone was Ari David, Israeli Mossad/Hamas mole and here in his place was Ari Haswari, business man. He had started off working as a door-to-door salesman, taking that first job that he could find or that found him. But after having the door slammed in his face, he knew that there must be better than this. Using the intelligence that had got him through medical school in Edinburgh and admittedly some of his old Mossad manipulation techniques, he had managed to get himself a meeting with the company director. There, he managed to convince the director without (much) violence and he had been offered a job on the spot. And three weeks into that job, he met Caitlin.

The first thing that Ari had noticed about her was her fire and passion. And even though she was threatening to sue the crap out of them (her words, not his) he still found her vaguely amusing. However, she did not see it that way. Every time she yelled, he smirked. And every time she yelled louder, his smirk grew wider. Until she reached boiling point and Ari decided to do something. So he asked her out to dinner.

Her reaction alone was worth the cost of the dinner that he had to fork out of his non-existent savings, as her face had been distorted in confusion, before she haughtily accepted. And the rest was history.

Said woman emerged from the house and sat on the bench moments after Ziva had left. She reached a hand out in a silent gesture of unity and took his much larger one in hers. And they sat, in silence, until Kate found the appropriate words to say.

"Well," she started, "that was not the family reunion I was hoping for…"

Ari looked up, his eyes filled with such sadness and loneliness that Kate just wanted to kiss him.

"I really screwed this one up, Caitlin," he said finally, and Kate drew him closer and peppered his cheek with kisses, not forcing him into anything. Just waiting, sitting in silence in the rain…

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><p><strong><em>awww! reviews please! do you guys want more kari? :)<em>**


	16. Chapter 16

**_Hello my darling readers!_**  
><strong><em>i was seriously OVERWHELMED with the reviews from the last chapter! for the past few chapters were hitting an all time low and then BAM! LOADS of reviews! you guys wer holding out on me? :P<em>**

**_the song from the last chapter was "for a pessimist i'm pretty optimistic" by Paramore. epic tune. cyber cookies to _**_Abbi4Raie_**_ who go the artist!_**

**_second thing I HAVE OVER 100 REVIEWS! THATS INSANE! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D WOOOOOOOOOOOO! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! :D _**

**_so anyways, this chapter is full to the brim of kari, especially for _**_ShadowEar_**_, _**_MegpieLovesTiva_**_, _**_K8 G.H. Ducy_**_ and _**_Abbi4Raie_  
><strong><em>enjoy!<em>**

**_DISCLAIMER: I OWN NADA :) _**

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><p><em>Chapter 16- I remember what you wore on the first day, you came into my life and i thought hey, you know this could be something...<em>

When the others had left Kate and Ari ventured back inside, where they were greeted by a smiley, but determined Abby.

"No talking," she said before either of them could get a chance to even think about getting a word in, "Ari, the shower is the second door on the right. Towels and stuff in the long cupboard in there. I'm not taking any responsibility for either of you getting ill."

Ari shot an amused look at Kate.

"Yes ma'am," he said, giving her lazy salute and sauntered off in search of the bathroom.

When he was firmly out of ear-shot, Abby turned to Kate with an evil grin that should have rightfully preceded an evil genius style laugh.

"I want to know everything about him," she said and Kate laughed.

They sat down on the sofa a few minutes later with mugs full to the brim with hot chocolate. Kate had mostly dried off after her impromptu outside shower, and she snuggled down into the sofa.

"Soo…" Abby started off the conversation. Kate sighed, pretending to be grudging about sharing her gossip with Abby, but secretly she had been wanting to tell someone about Ari since they had first met. And due to the time difference she hadn't been able to have any kind of lengthy conversation with Abby, and the occasional text message was not enough to describe her Ari.

"Well, we met at work…" Kate started, and Abby let out a squeal. Kate gave her a stern look, but continued.

"I was doing some work experience for my university course. And I was threatening to sue him and his company, so he asked me out."

"AWWWWW!" Abby squealed and Kate gave her a murderous look, but then smiled and ran her fingers around the edge of her mug.

"What was he wearing when you first met him?" Abby asked. The question seemed to be random, but with Abby even randomness had a science. And she wanted to know how serious to two of them were. Instead of asking the question straight, like any other normal person would, Abby asked her question. If it was serious, love at first sight and all that stuff then she would remember.

"Dark blue jeans and a black shirt," Kate answered, not missing a beat. Abby smirked inwardly at that. Yup, Kate was defiantly hooked. Kate pretended to act nonchalantly about the whole thing, but Abby could see that Ari really meant something to her.

"What is he like?" Abby asked, after she had got over the cuteness of the whole situation.

"He's," Kate searched and struggled to find the right words to use. He was such a complex man that there would never be enough words in the world to describe him.

"His past is a mess. And yet he is still caring and loving and kind and such a gentleman to such an extent that it's kind of annoying. And… yeah…" she trailed off, nervous for her friends reaction.

"And is he…. like…. you know…." Abby gestured vaguely and Kate just gave her a strange look.

"The one?" she asked, trying to decipher the unique code of Abby. Abby nodded and Kate looked down at her lap.

"I'm still trying to figure that one out," Kate smiled, but to Abby the answer was clear. Kate was definitely in love…

The conversation was going to drift onto not Ari-centred grounds when the man himself walked into the room, a towel wrapped firmly around his waist.

"Sorry, I just came for," he gestured at the bag he had picked up off the ground and he walked back off again. They waited until he was out of earshot again before Abby voiced her opinion.

"Wow. Someone's ripped…" she teased and Kate rolled her eyes.

"One of the more fortunate by-products of his Mossad training…" Kate grinned appreciatively. She had been pleasantly surprised the first time they had been to the beach together and he had taken off his shirt. Hell, every female (and the occasional male) in the near area had been in awe. His body was muscled, yet fluid in a way that he was still pleasant enough to cuddle with. His abs were well defined, and there was a sprinkle of fine black hair across his broad chest. All in all, as very fit man.

"So," Abby continued casually, "Have you two had sex yet?"

Kate choked on the mouthful of hot chocolate she had just drunk. She coughed and it took a few not-so gentle slaps on the back from Abby for her to clear her throat. Once she had brought her head out from between her legs, she glared at her incredulous.

"How old are you?"

"17!" Abby said, pretending to be cross that Kate still thought of her as a child, "and you didn't answer the question."

"Of course not we have not!" Kate said, trying to sound prude and uppity. They she added, "he wouldn't let me."

Abby looked shocked at the admission and Kate just grinned and took a sip of her drink.  
>"Wait, back up," Abby said confused, "<em>he <em>wouldn't let _you_."

"He is very old fashioned, you will see when you talk to him properly. He has met my parents and everything."

"Sounds serious," Abby said casually, sneaking a glance over at Kate to see what her reaction would be. Kate did not deny it, and there was a look in her eye that told Abby the answer.

Ari returned downstairs a few moments later, much to the disappointment of Kate, fully and properly clothed. He flopped down on the sofa next to Kate, who automatically moved closer to his space. Abby got off the sofa at that point (three was a crowd, right).

"You guys hungry?" Kate nodded and Ari did nothing.

"Forgive me for intruding," Ari started, "but do you live alone?"

Abby could see where Kate was coming from with the whole gentleman thing. He was definitely polite to the extent of being formal.

"Mum and Kyle are up in Sheffield meeting uncles and aunties and people," Abby said smiling.

"Anyways," she continued, "I'll try cook something for us."

"Do you need some help?" Ari asked standing up. Abby was going to decline, but this was a chance to interrogate her best friend's boyfriend. How could she resist with an offer that great? And she was yet to remind him that she would kill him without _any_ forensic evidence.

"Yeah sure!" she said, and Ari followed her into the small adjoining kitchen. Abby was rummaging through cupboards, searching for something to throw into their dinner. It was hard to believe that Abby could cook, but there was a science to cooking that she had picked up from her mum. With both her parents being deaf there was occasionally a breakdown in communication. But even then Abby could still find her mother in the kitchen cooking and seamlessly join in, stirring and chopping and boiling things. It was their time, without the boys and with nothing but the crackling of oil in the frying pan to disturb their peace. Occasionally her father would join in the silent dance, but her mum was the permanent feature in their kitchen.

"You can chop the onion, garlic and ginger first," she instructed, laying the named ingredients out on the chopping board ready for him to start preparing. Abby watched as he carefully selected a knife from the knife block. He pulled out a few, testing the balance and examining the blade of each before deciding on the one with the black handle, the blade not as sharp as the rest, but still deadly. For vegetables, that was. Abby watched in awe as he quickly chopped the onion with such speed and accuracy, not once even so much as coming near to his fingers. Ari looked around at her and seeing her expression smirked.

"A good friend once told me," he started, launching an attack on his next victim, the garlic, "That real men do three things. They cook. They braid hair. And they never hit a woman."

"Good friend you have there."

Ari nodded in acknowledgement. Abby flicked the button on the kettle, emptying the pasta into one of the pots for boiling. The water raged inside the kettle, and that and the sound of a blade hitting the chopping board were the only sounds that filled the room. When the water had finished boiling, Abby tipped the water from the kettle and into the pot. She grabbed a few vegetables and added them to the pile of things for Ari to cut. While his hands were occupied, Abby continued her interrogation.

"So how long have you been dating Kate?"

"6 months and 2 weeks," Ari asked quickly, making Abby smirk in response. Kate had him whipped. Just as much as Kate was smitten with him.

"Just to let you know, I can kill you an-"

"-d leave to forensic evidence?" Ari finished her sentence amused, "Caitlin has warned me of your skills. Thank you for the warning."

They worked together in silence before Abby launched into her next set of questions.

"So Ziva is your sister?" she started, aware of how his chopping rhythm did not change, but his shoulders visibly tensed at the mention of his family.

"What has Ziva told you?"

"Very little. That your father is very powerful in Israel. That he is the reason that she is here."

Ari was inwardly cursing. Why did he not think to check before he came to this country? He could have seen anyone, an old colleague or an acquaintance with both his and his father, and then he would have been over. America was definitely making him soft. First thing he was going to do when he got to a computer was to locate Eli, and avoid him. At all costs.

"Eli David is a man who does not deserve children, especially one as amazing and beautiful as Ziva."

Ari made it clear that was all he was going to say on the matter, so they went back to cutting and stirring in companionable silence.

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><p>The movie was drawing to a close, Abby looked as if she was about to drop off. And Kate was asleep. Ari sighed dramatically, knowing that he was going to have to be the one to clear up and tuck them in. He first extracted himself from underneath Kate's body, which had ended up draped across him around half was through the film he picked up the empty tub of popcorn and set it on the table in front of them. Next he switched off the DVD played and TV, using only the light from the hallway to navigate his way through the room. Abby got up, stretching cat-style and nodded at Ari.<p>

"G'night…" she mumbled eloquently and Ari smiled back. Abby made her way upstairs, leaving Ari to address the situation.

Ari scooped Kate off the couch with ease, and carried her up the stairs, trying to jostle her as little as possible. Kate did not even stir, as he nudged open the door of Abby's room looking around to see where to put her down. He saw a mattress and assumed that was where he was meant to lay her, and, was that a coffin? Shaking his head at the weird choice in friends that Caitlin had, he gently lay her down, covering her slightly with the duvet. He turned around to see Abby, who just nodded at him and walked over to the coffin. She lay down and crossed her hands across her chest, dead-body style and Ari chuckle to himself. Strange people…

Kate jolted awake, instantly knowing that something was wrong. The new surroundings threw her for a moment, but that was not what was bothering her. She heard a strange thumping sound coming from downstairs and knew what it was. Ari.

She quietly got up, trying not to disturb Abby and slowly walked down the stairs. She could see Ari's sleeping form on the sofa from the bottom of the staircase, and she could see that something was not right. The duvet that was covering him had fallen away, and his hands were clenched in fists at the sides of his body. His arms muscles were all tensed, the veins bulging. His head was thrashing from side to side as he fought an invisible enemy. His eyes were closed, but there was moisture pooling from them. Kate moved towards him, moving to sit on the sofa. In an instant Ari snapped awake and grabbed her arm that was resting on his cheek in a vice like grip. His eyes danced with fear.

"Hey, it was all just a dream, you're back here safe with me," she soothed, and Ari started to loosen his grip on her arm. When he awoke fully he was thinking of her.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked, his voice shaky as he tenderly stroked the skin that he had previously held with so much force. Kate marvelled at how those hands could be deadly weapons, but could also offer so much comfort.

"You want to talk about it?" Kate asked carefully. Ari shook his head, but motioned at her to come into his arms. Complying, she sat in his lap and pulled his head into her, comforting him and smoothing his hair with her hands. She could feel the moisture of his tears wetting the fabric of her shirt.

Eventually he pulled away, and rested his forehead against hers, both with their eyes closed. They were both drained, Ari with the emotionally turmoil that had been brought on by the resurrection of some of his past ghost, and Kate with the waking up and offering of comfort. So neither of them noticed the pair of footsteps that had followed Kate down from the bedroom and was now making their way back upstairs…

Abby woke up when she heard the sound of the door creaking open as Kate left the room. She sat up and contemplated going back to sleep, but found that she couldn't when the curiosity was burning so brightly. Shunning back the covers she quietly tip-toed down the stairs and knelt down where she could see the couple without intruding. She could see that Ari was clearly in distress, even when unconscious, and Kate had somehow sensed it. It was some weird psychic force that had told her that her man was in trouble. Abby jumped as Ari's hand snapped up and grabbed Kate's and Abby watched in fear for her friend's life (or maybe just her hand). Abby watched on in astonishment as Ari went from being a wild animal, and with some words Ari was a broken man. Abby slipped up the stairs, not wanting to intrude on this moment between the two of them. But one thing was for sure. Kate and Ari were very much in love…

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><p><strong><em>positive and negative reviews are all welcome! i hope kate was not too out of character for you... i haven't seen a Kate episode in a while... :)<em>**


	17. Chapter 17

**_Hellohellohello!_**

**_due to the AMAZING response i got from the last chapter i thought i would treat you all and upload really fast with a very long chapter!_**

**_so well done to _**MegpieLovesTiva**_and _**Abbi4Raie**_who both guessed the song right (::) it was "two is better than one" by Boys like Girls! (who are awesome. you should totally check them out! :D)_**

**_just to let you know I am changing the rating to T, as I did not realise how low my rating was, and it had some violence and swearing and stuff... _**

**_anyways, i'll shut up now. ENJOY!_**

**_DISCLAIMER: disclaimed._**

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><p>Chapter 17- …beautiful, wonderful, don't you ever change.<p>

Tony nodded goodbye to Tim as they left Abby's house. Immediately after Kate had left to comfort Ari outside Abby had shooed them away, saying how she wanted "girl time" with Kate and they had to leave. Neither of them wanted to incur the wrath of Abby and die early, so they left with no objection and a promise from Abby that they would meet up and talk with Kate soon. At the front gate Tony and McGee parted ways, Tony going to his car and McGee going in the direction of his house.

As Tony drove along the quiet country road, the windscreen wipers turned up, he realised he had taken a wrong turning. Inwardly cursing himself, he was going to turn around, when fate seemingly had other plans. For some reason fate wanted him to be on that road. And now he saw why. He saw a small figure walking along his side of the road, huddled over against the rain. Even through all the rain he could tell who the figure was. So instead of turning around he slowed down, almost stationary, driving alongside the pedestrian for a few moments. When she refused to turn around, even though she clearly noticed that there was a car crawling along next to her, Tony sighed and spoke.

"Ziva!" he yelled, leaning across the passenger seat of the dark blue sedan and sticking his head out of the window on the passenger side of the car that he had just wound down. The figure turned to him and then glared.

"What do you want?" she yelled back over the rain.

"Do you need a ride?"

"I need nothing from you," she said icily and Tony remembered. Right they were fighting. What was it that they were fighting over or for? He honestly could not remember.

"Come on Zi!" he said, dropping a nickname and knowing that she would hate it. True to his prediction she turned around, glared, and then went back to staring intently at the pavement.

"I can go the whole walk back to your house like this!" Tony said. Ziva said nothing. The scene was almost comical, Ziva stonily staring ahead, her own personal storm cloud following her around like in those cartoons, knowing that there was no way of her evading her stalker, and Tony rolling along at less than one mile an hour with his head practically sticking out the window at a really odd angle, like one of those puppies who stuck their heads outside windows to feel the wind through their fur, with their tongues hanging out of their mouths. Ziva shoved her cold hands further into her pockets, refusing to give into the temptation that was the warmth and security that was Tony's car. She had not walked that far, and yet she was still soaked to the feet. Damn the weather. Damn this stupid country. Damn Anthony DiNozzo Junior. And Senior while she was on the topic of damning everything that was bad in this world.

Said man had clearly not finished with annoying her.

"Do you fancy some music?" and without letting her answer he switched his radio on. Heavy rap with a strong beat flew out of the speakers, making the whole street vibrate along to the rhythm. Tony turned the volume up even further and he was about to start singing along when Ziva finally broke.

"**TONY!** Stop the God-damn fucking car _right now!" _

Tony did so and Ziva got into the passenger side. Seeing Tony's smug face Ziva spoke.

"Don't say a word."

Tony complied, switching the radio off completely and plunging the car into silence. Tony turned left, and Ziva noticed that they were not going in the direction of her house. Or in that matter Tony's house either.

"Tony," she asked warily, "where are we going?"

Tony turned to her, trying to mime out something through closed lips. Ziva just stared at him, unimpressed. He was like a child. A small, very immature child. Yes, she had told him not to say a word, but of course she wanted an answer to her question! If she did not, then she would not have asked it! Idiot…

Tony seemed to sense her train of thought. Taking one hand of the steering wheel he made a big deal of unzipping his lips to talk to her.

"Well, sweetcheeks," he started, the look on her face as thunderous as the weather that was raging outside, "I figured that now would be a good time to tal-"

"So you're kidnapping me?" she cut in, turning to face him full on.

"Well, kidnapping is a very strong word…" Tony trailed off as Ziva glared even more. From somewhere without him noticing she had somehow secreted a knife from her body, and looked ready to kill him with it. She tilted her head to one side for a moment, as if contemplating the best way to kill him. Then she did something surprising. She sighed and flopped back into the leather chair, as if succumbed to the fact that she was stuck. She started casually filing her nails with the knife that she had earlier threatened him with, not making Tony any more relaxed.

"So is there any particular reason that you want to talk?" Ziva said, her eyes on her nails, blowing them gently to displace any shavings that had collected. She pretended she did not know what he was wanting to talk about, but Tony could see it in her eyes that she knew just as much as he did. That knowledge he took as permission to continue. But before he could continue Ziva spoke.

"You want to know how I know Ari."

Tony answered the rhetorical question. Silence fell as Ziva thought of how it was best to word her situation. And whether to "word" her situation at all. Just because he had kidnapped her did not mean she was going to tell him her life story!

"He is my older brother," she blurted out suddenly.

"He mentioned," Tony said casually.

"What else did he say!" she said, now feeling defensive.

"That was it."

Silence fell again. Ziva had always been awkward with words, always channelling her emotion into her training or her dance and music. Words, were not enough, especially seeing as English was not her first language. I mean, what were those 26 letters of the alphabet arranged in different ways compared to the music?

"My family is…" she searched for the right word to use, "difficult."

Tony understood where she was coming from. But in comparison to her childhood, his was a playground. He had never had to train in the Israeli military. He had never been forced into doing anything that he did not want to do. It fact, he hadn't been forced into doing anything…

"I lost my little sister Tali in a Hamas suicide bombing," Ziva started, the words sounding curt and sharp, as if grudging telling him, "she was sixteen and the best of us."

Tony did not interrupt her to ask her the relevance.

"Tali had compassion," she continued, "and when she left us she seemed to take the compassion with her."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She did not want Tony to see her when she said the next part of her story. Tony had been flicking his eyes from the road to her face, so he was bound to see her for some of what she had to say.

"My father pushed my brother and me so hard. Ari was sent on a mission to infiltrate a Hamas terrorist group. Last we ever heard from him was that his had been killed in an attack on his cell."

Tony almost stopped driving at that point. So this was what Ziva had lived through. It explained her reaction in CCF to the kid who had asked her if she had ever killed someone. She had learnt the value and futility of life, even in her short time on this planet. Most other girls of her age would be worrying about being accepted, the way they look, who they were. Ziva worried about her life. She had lost so much, and the death of Tali's innocent life seemed to have taken her innocence away too. And now her brother whom she had thought as dead was back in her life. No wonder she had felt confused. No wonder she had lashed out. All that anger she had against the world. She had lost so much. He wanted to pull the car over to the pavement and lean over and hug her, kiss her, tell her that life was worth living even though she had lost so much. Tell her that love existed.

But instead of moving closer Ziva abruptly turned away. Why was she even telling him all this? She did not even like the man! She had been that close to strangling him, or just filling him up with bullets. And yet she found herself telling him her life story, something that she had never told anyone. The thing that she had tried so hard to hide from her friends and brothers at arms. The thing that she did not want to tell anyone, partly not to appear weak or human, but not to burden them with her pain. It was her pain, and no-one else deserved to be saddled with it but her. Time to change the subject to ones that did not revolve around her…

"You are dating Jeanne," she started, and Tony did not interrupt her, even though he had sensed that the change in subject was for a reason. They would resume their conversation later on.

"And are you happy?" she continued.

Tony could feel the weight of the question that was being asked. So he had to think about the answer. His immediate answer was no. He had spent the whole night thinking of Ziva, not the girl who was sitting in front of him. But on the other hand, the night had been fun. Jeanne had laughed at all his lame jokes, and she really seemed to be into him. He had no chance with Ziva, so maybe Jeanne was as good as it did get? If so, surely he should be happy and settle with that?

"I am happy," he answered finally. What he did not notice was how a flash of emotion went through her eyes and her eyes close for a moment. He did not think anything of it when Ziva tilted her head to face the window, hiding her face from Tony in case he saw what his words were doing to her…

Behind her closed eyelids Ziva felt tears burn in the back of her eyes. Tony was happy with someone else. She refused to let him see her, to ruin what he might be building with Jeanne. She was not going to be selfish and admit that she felt something for him. But why did being selfless hurt so much?

oooOOOooo

Gibbs woke up to the smell of eggs and bacon frying. Following his nose he found himself in his kitchen, where a beautiful red head was cooking breakfast. She was wearing pyjamas that he had laughed at when she had pulled them out, but now seeing her wear then, he could not help but admire the Mickey Mouse printed shorts that made her legs look stunning. And her ass…

"Stop looking at my ass, Jethro," Jenny scolded, not having to turn around to see what he was doing. Gibbs smiled to himself.

"Well, Jennifer," he said coming up behind her to hug her from behind. She shivered at the feeling of his arms around her body, making her feel so small and protected. And the way that he stretched out her given name that only her grandfather ever called her, and that she had always hated made her want to turn around and kiss him senseless. Even the rubbish parts of her life seemed to be made better by him and his touch.

"It is," he murmured into her neck, "a very nice ass."

Jenny swatted him with the spatula that she held in one hand.

"If you keep on like that we won't be having any breakfast," Jenny warned.

"I've found something else I want for breakfast…" Gibbs said, his mouth still on her neck. Damn that man. He was like a lion, a bastard when not loved and cared for, but cuddly and lovable when he had been trained by the right person. And Jenny was certainly the right woman for the job. The thought of any other woman with hands on her Jethro made her feel very territorial.

Suddenly his lips were doing more than just brush against her smooth skin. He gently kissed down her neck, Jenny's breath catching and becoming increasingly uneven as he continued. When he found that there was a piece of fabric in the way he moved to remove the offending item of clothing, but Jenny pushed his hand gently away.

"Breakfast first," she said firmly and turned back to the frying pan. It sounded plausible enough. But Gibbs knew that there was something more to Jenny's refusal. Last night she had slipped into the bathroom before getting changed, and had halted pretty much all of his physical shows of affection.

When Jenny walked over to the breakfast bar, putting the steaming plates down she sat herself down, and Gibbs brought over the mugs of coffee. Ignoring his growling stomach the first thing he did was turn to face Jenny and put her hand in his. Jenny looked up at him and gave him a small smile. He tilted his head slightly to one side questioningly.

"What Jethro?" Instead of sounding innocent and questioning, she just sounded vaguely annoyed. And a tad defensive.

Gibbs gave her a look. And Jenny sighed.

"Jethro there is nothing wrong," she tried again, but he knew she was lying. Silence fell onto the kitchen, neither of them touching their food.

"Look," Jenny was the first to break, "just because you sit and stare at me does not mean I have to say something."

Silence.

Jenny sighed and put down her sandwich.

"I just… I…" Jenny tried but she could not force the words out. Gibbs was curious. Jenny was usually so strong minded and damn stubborn to the extent of being annoying. She had always been good with words, always initiating verbal sparring matched with him, with her victory being inevitable. But nervous and at loss for words? This wasn't her usual style.

"What if you don't like my body?" Jenny said nervously. She looked shyly up at him, almost afraid to see his reaction to her admission. She used to have been a lot thinner and toned, back in the days where fitness and staying in shape were high on her list of priorities. Now her job came first, and she ate whatever was closest and quickest. And most of the time that led to not the most nutritionally valuable foods. So over the years she had gained a little weight. Jethro had known her 5 years ago, back in the days where exercise was an option. She knew that Jethro was not the kind of man who would judge a woman based on her weight, but that did not stop the insecurities.

Jethro looked surprised at the confession, making Jenny feel even more ridiculous. Jenny leaned back on her stool, not hungry for the bacon sandwich that sat in front of her.

"Just forget it…" she mumbled. She jerked in surprise as she felt her world spin round as Gibbs took a firm hold of the chair and turned it, so she was now facing Gibbs. He was looking her straight in the eyes with those piercing blue eyes, and Jenny looked away uncomfortably. Even his eyes on her made her uncomfortable now.

"Hey," he whispered gently. Jenny reluctantly looked into his eyes, searching for any disgust or revulsion. She found none.

"Jennifer Sheppard," he started, Jenny grinning at her full name being used, "Jen, you have nothing to be worried about. You are amazing and wonderful and you could never make me think that you are anything less than beautiful. No matter what you eat, no matter what you wear."

Jenny could tell that Jethro meant every word of that speech. He was not one to waste words unnecessarily, so she took in every single thing he said. And smiled.

But Gibbs was not done with her. He stood up, so he could be taller than her eye level with her and cupped her cheeks in his hands. He looked deep into her eyes, before moving closer to push their lips gently together. Jenny's eyes fluttered close as his lips caressed hers with such love and passion, putting enough pressure on them to drive her crazy and crave more. He gently slid his tongue past the boundaries of her lips, kissing her deeply, taking her, loving her. Her arms moved to massage his salt and pepper locks, and he released his hold on her face. Not breaking the kiss he brought his hands down to her waist and let the rest there, letting her relax into it. She sighed into the kiss and Gibbs took that as a sign to continue. He hesitantly drew a hand up her baggy shirt, gently caressing the smooth skin that he found there. His fingers danced on her stomach and her breath caught. Taking this as a good sign Gibbs moved his exploration further north, cupping both of her breasts at the same time.

"Jethro," she sighed into his lips as he gentle caressed each of her mounds. She was larger than he had remembered it, but somehow he did not mind. When he ghosted his hands over her ribcage he did not feel bone. She was now more womanly and soft. He tugged at each nipple and she groaned his name again. He felt them pebble against his fingers and now it was his turn to groan her name into the kiss

Gibbs pulled away finally, resting his forehead against hers as they both caught their breaths.

"Wow," Jenny said, opening her eyes. Gibbs smirked, almost shyly. They stood like that for a long time, linked physically and emotionally, with neither wanting the bonds to ever break…

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><p><strong><em>my first kiss scene! :P i would love to know what you guys think of it and the rest of the chapter, so REVIEWS PLEASE! :D<em>**


	18. Chapter 18

**_Hello!_**

**_Thanks for the awesome reviews! I'm so glad you guys liked the kissing scene... ;) possibly encouraging me to write more, maybe? special mention to _**MegpieLovesTiva**_ (again. :P) for guessing the song, which was in fact Hey Stephen by Taylor Swift!_**  
><strong><em>Here is the next installment! its really weird actually, I've been through this thing where I'm getting LOADS of writing done, and having LOADS of random inspiration moments. which means all the more updates for you!<em>**

**_anyways, enjoy! :)_**

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><p><strong><strong>Chapter 18- The wires were cut and I'm alone. I know you're getting closer. I know your coming back for me this time.<strong>**

Kate woke up with cramp in her neck and back. She groaned, trying to dispel the aches and pains that had formed during the night. Actually, it was more like the morning when she had come down to comfort Ari. Speaking of the man… She turned her head to see if Ari was awake yet, and found unsurprisingly that he was. He stared at her with a look of amusement, to which she just scowled.

"And you looked so peaceful until a few seconds ago…" Ari said.

"You were watching me while I slept?"

Before Ari had a chance to respond Abby appeared from the kitchen.

"Hey Katie! You look so cute when you sleep!" she said, and bounced back into the kitchen.

Kate looked after her, eyebrows raised.

"Why is everybody watching me in my sleep?"

Ari smirked and extracted himself from the couch. He had taken of his shirt at some point during the night, and Kate was going to protest to him putting it back on. She watched sulking as the white fabric of his T-shirt covered him from her eyes. Ari noticed her expression and laughed.

"As much as I enjoy your staring, please refrain from looking at me like that."

"Or what?" Kate retorted and Ari just gave her a look, his eyes darkening for a split second, and Kate could see the less than gentlemanly thoughts running through his head. Now it was Kate's turn to smirk, and she walked into the kitchen, putting a bit more sway into her walk than was necessary. Ari growled. Caitlin was going to give him a heart attack one day…

Abby turned around to great Kate when the phone rang. Abby's confusion was evident, who would ring at this time? Whenever the phone went in the Scuito family it was always for Abby. Her mum couldn't use the phone, and her little brother was too young to be having friends call the house.

"Hello?" Abby picked up warily.

"Abby?"  
>"Ziva! How did you get this number?"<p>

Abby could almost hear Ziva's smile through the phone.

"I have… ways," she said. Ziva trailed off nervously.

"Ziva? Was there something you wanted to tell me?"  
>"I just… never mind," Ziva said.<p>

"What is it Ziva?"

Ziva took a deep breath and sighed.

"I just wanted to apologise for yesterday. I ruined your day with Kate by acting overly emotionally about Ari."  
>Abby was surprised at this. Not only was Ziva admitting that she was wrong, but she sounded nervous. Nervous of Abby? Abby stopped bouncing around as she had been previously, instead leaning against the cooker.<p>

"Kate told us about it all. I just hope you and Ari sort this out."

Ziva breathed a discernible sigh of relief and Abby smiled. Ziva's next request was odd.

"Could I please talk to Caitlin?"

"Yeah sure… hold on…"

Kate had walked into the kitchen a few moments ago and Abby thrust the phone at her.

"It's for you!"

Kate gave her a strange look and took the phone from her outstretched hand.

"Hello?"

"Caitlin? It's Ziva."  
>Hey Ziva! And it's Kate, the only people who call me Caitlin are my grandmother and Ari," she laughed. This immediately put Ziva at ease, who smiled through the phone.<p>

"I just wanted to apologise for yesterday," Ziva continued, now more at ease with the whole apologising thing, "I am not normally that… emotional."  
>Kate felt nothing but sympathy for the girl. When she had got to know Ari, she had been shocked and appalled at the life that he left behind. And yet he still felt ridiculously guilty for leaving behind his two favourite girls. Ziva and Tali were his life, and he still kept a photo of them in his wallet, no matter what the risks of being identified with the photo may be. And Kate loved him for it.<p>

"Ziva, I think you have every right to be angry," Kate said.

"Do you fancy going out for a coffee or something this morning?" Kate asked out of the blue.

"Ummm… yeah sure!" Ziva answered with a moment's hesitation.

After arranging where to meet Kate was about to hang up when Ziva stopped her.

"Kate?" Ziva hesitated, unsure of her next words, "will you tell Ari to be careful? My father is out of town, but there is still the chance that he may be spotted."

Kate promised to pass on the message, and hung up.

Abby walked back into the living room, to where a sleepy jet-lagged Ari sat.

"Kate's going to meet Ziva for coffee!"

Ari tilted his head to one side, confused as to why Abby was so happy about that.

"So, time to haze the new guy!"

Ari smirked. He had trained with the Israeli army and been part of a Hamas terrorist group. He was not scared. But then again, they were famous last words…

oooOOOooo

Kate swung open the door to the old coffee shop in the town centre. It was a cute little place that despite selling overpriced coffee with strange names, was a place where she had loved forever. The rich browns and reds of the walls made the place seem more homely than a coffee shop could have been. She felt strange, walking through her home town after spending so much time in America. For one, everyone's accents were different. And Kate was only just getting used to the portion sizes in America. And then there was the driving….

After picking up her cup Kate caught sight of the Israeli teenager sitting in the corner of the coffee shop. She smiled at her and waved, and she returned it. Kate walked over to the table and settled down in the seat opposite. Kate had not had the chance to look at Ziva closely since her arrival, so took this as an opportunity to do so. For siblings, Ziva looked very little like Ari. They had a similar skin tone, and both had sharp, chiselled features, but that was where the physical similarities ended. Ziva was much shorter and had finer, more delicate features. But their mannerisms were very similar, probably speaking of long periods of time spent together. They were both very guarded in their body language, even if to the outside they seemed perfectly relaxed. Both of them had a habit of always looking around them, eyes discreetly darting around, assessing the surrounding area. And they were both also able to communicate so much through a look, a tilting of the head or a small smile.

"Are you finished analysing me yet?" Ziva said in a way of greeting, not looking around from the window. Kate grinned and sat down.

"I'm majoring in law, but I know a bit about psychology," Kate replied, and Ziva let out a bark of laughter. She was not about to tell Kate that she probably had a similar kind of expertise in the subject, but her teaching were probably a little more violent.

Kate noticed how uneasy Ziva looked, and she could not blame her. Kate was practically an All-American girl now, at home in coffee shops and already speaking with a sophisticated American twang. Ziva on the other hand was a slightly awkward Israeli who looked like she would be more at home disarming a bomb than here. No exaggeration.

"So what have you psychoanalysed about me then?" Ziva asked, curious to see what Kate had found, but also joking in her tone.

"Well…" Kate started, putting of answering the question. Ziva was very difficult to read, which was surprising seeing as she was a 17 year old teenager. But she was a David…

"I think I will wait before I pass judgement," she finished and Ziva nodded in approval.

"Did you send my message on to my brother?" Ziva asked. Kate flashed back to that morning.

_**FLASHBACK**_

_**Kate snuck up behind Ari as he was getting dressed, him only wearing his boxers. Black was definitely his colour. If you whole businessman thing did not go well, she was sure that he could get a job as a Calvin Klein model… **_

_**Kate wrapper her arms around his torso and he turned around in all his half naked glory.  
>"You have really got to stop being so distracting," he said, kissing her softly on the cheek. Kate turned her head slightly so their lips met and she kissed him for a moment, softly and sweetly. She drew back slightly, and Ari bumped noses with her playfully. Kate was so distracted by him that she almost forgot the reason why she was there. Almost. <strong>_

"_**Your sister rang," Kate started. She could feel his back straightening slightly, the firm muscles of his back tensing underneath her fingers. **_

"_**She says to be careful, even though your father is out of town," she finished. Ari grinned widely. **_

"_**What?" she asked. Ari just smiled even more. **_

"_**She still cares about me," he said, kissing her on the top of the head. So maybe he still had a chance at forgiveness…**_

_**END OF FLASHBACK**_

Kate recounted the morning's events, missing out some of the details to keep it PG. But there was some sparkle of mischief in Ziva's eyes that hinted that Ziva knew that she was missing parts out. It was that same playful glint that Ari had in his eyes whenever he felt particularly childish.

"So, what is the deal with you and DiNozzo?" Kate asked taking a sip of her coffee, keen to move the conversation towards the mysterious Israeli.

Ziva smiled at the question.

"DiNozzo and I are… complicated."

Ziva could tell that her answer was not satisfying enough for Kate. Sighing, she elaborated.

"He is dating Jeanne Benoit. He is happy. I am nothing to him," she put simply.

"Benoit… I recognise that name," Kate mumbled to herself. She pushed that aside, "I can see the way he looks at you. You are most definitely more than nothing to him."

Ziva smiled, but Kate could tell that she did not believe her. Kate sighed. Ziva was even more stubborn than Ari.

Kate decided to bring the conversation back to her Ari.

"14th May."

That was all she said. And yet Ziva stiffened visibly, the affectionate half smile she wore when talking about DiNozzo gone.

"What about it?" Ziva said, her voice a clear mixture of iciness and indifference.

"Every year on that day he is the most broken man. He sits with this photograph, and he feels so guilty."

"And yet he never came back," Ziva said, a slight mocking laughter in her voice.

"He wanted to! So many times he packed his bag, wanting to go back. But he couldn't."  
>"Then he is a coward."<br>"Tali would not have wanted you to fight."

Those words hit Ziva like a slap to the face. She turned round, a cold look in her eye, and Kate felt the full force of the knowledge of what this girl was capable of.

"Don't you dare talk to me like you know what Tali would want."

Ziva leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes, trying to keep her emotions in check. Rationally, she knew that Kate was nothing but an innocent bystander who wanted the best for her brother. But that did not give her the automatic right to lecture about what her sister would have wanted.

"I am sorry," Kate said softly, after a few moments passed in silence. Ziva turned to her, and Kate almost missed the moisture in Ziva's eyes, before she blinked it away.

"Do you love him?" Ziva asked abruptly. Kate had no doubts about who she was talking about.

"Yes."

"He is damaged goods."

"Still the answer is yes."  
>Ziva smiled at her answer.<p>

"Well there is one saying that I have learnt for definite from my time here," Ziva said, her previous smirk returning a little, "you break his heart and I _will_ break your face."

Kate laughed aloud at that.

"Would not expect any less, Ziva."

oooOOOooo

Despite the previous day's weather the skies had cleared and the Sun was making an appearance. Abby walked at Ari's side, bouncing vertically as well as travelling horizontally. An interesting fete.

"So where are we going?" Ari asked Abby. All he had been told was to grab his trainers and prepare for the hazing. He had not argued, but just wolfed down his breakfast a bit too quickly.

"We are here!" Abby said, ignoring him and running in the direction of the playground. Wait, playground?

"Errmmm… Abby?" Ari called, but Abby was not paying attention. He sighed and ran after her. His Caitlin had some truly strange friends…

Much to Ari's delight Abby was not actually heading for the playground, rather the basketball courts that lay behind them. From a distance Ari could see two figures already throwing the ball around and shooting.

"You guys started without us?" Abby whined as they reached the entrance of the courts. The younger of the figures, McGee, smiled and kissed her on the cheek as she came closer. Were those two together? If not, they should be. They clearly had a thing for each other…

"So you're Kate's new boyfriend," the other boys approached him, casually spinning the ball on one finger.

"I am. She has told me much about you all, Tony," Ari said, putting his hand out to shake Tony's. Ari could sense Tony's hesitation, even though it was not clear in his actions, it was clear in his eyes. This Tony clearly had something that was bothering him.

"Ziva has told me about you," Tony said. That would explain the caution. But if anything Ari was glad that Ziva had made friends who were clearly willing to stand up for her.

"And you must be Timothy," he said, turning to the man who Abby was now firmly attached to.

"McGee," he replied, shaking his hand.

"So how do we want to play this?" Tony asked.

"Do you want to pick teams?" Ari asked.

Tony nodded.

"I want Abby."

Ari gave him a surprised look and Tony just grinned at him.

"Watch and learn, watch and learn."

A few minutes into the game Ari could see why Tony had picked Abby. Not only was McGee too afraid to go close to her in fear of hurting her she had pretty mean aim. Time to up the game, he thought.

McGee threw him the ball, and Tony came up to him, trying to get in his face and distract him. Ari just grinned, faking one way before spinning his back on him and doing a perfect layup. The ball bounced squarely off the back board and in.

High-fiving McGee, Tony set back up at the top of the key. He bounced the ball a bit, through his legs and around. He had a childish grin on his face, as he stared at Ari in the eyes.

"You ready, you ready, you ready? Ohhh!" he threw the ball right into the waiting arms of Abby, who took a few steps before jumping up, higher than Ari had expected and slam-dunked the ball into the net. She clung onto the side of the rim, just to prove that she could, before dropping to the ground lightly.

"BOOM!" Abby exclaimed loudly, and Ari grinned.

McGee started of with the ball, casually bouncing it around his body. He took a long run-up from the top of the key. Tony got in his path, but all he did was bouncing it in between Tony's legs and catch it on the other side. He then calmly sunk the ball into the net again.

The game continued, with neither side really talking score. At half time Ari and Tony both stripped off their shirts. Abby could see the hesitation in Tim's eyes. She then saw the moment where he thought "oh, what the hell" and took his shirt off too. And Abby couldn't take her eyes off him.

He wasn't as ripped as Ari, but he had nothing to worry about. Abby had known that he had lost weight, but now she was seeing the result of it. His figure was so much leaner, even if he did have a little bit of padding left. Now, he was a perfect balance between ripped and chilled. She had seen men before, and sometimes she wondered if hugging them would be like hugging a Greek statue. But no, Timmy was perfect.

Tony threw him a water bottle and he caught it with ease. Uncapping it Abby watched in fascination as he Adams apple bobbed up and down greedily, as he chugged the water. Wow. Since when was her Timmy so sexy? He looked like something off one of those really bad cheesy adverts of the TV. But there was nothing cheesy about her Tim. Wow. Just Wow.

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><p><strong><em>Mmmmmm... shirtless McGee *swoons* <em>**

**_reviews please! :)_**


	19. Chapter 19

**_Hey!_**

**_crazy week. due to the craziness of the week, this chapter is a little on the short side :(_**

**_on another note, i wanted to have your opinion on an idea i had for my next ncis story. i was thinking of doing an ncis/pride and prejudice crossover, where Gibbs is the "Darcy" character and Ziva is "Lizzy". Ziva's first impression of Gibbs is that he is an arrogant bastard who's judgement is clouded by pride and prejudice. but it a turn of events, Ziva falls further and further in love. for those who have read p&p, i will include other characters and follow roughly the storyline (eg. Abby as jane, McGee as bingley...) _**  
><strong><em>if you would like to know more i can send you a full plot synopsis with characters and stuff, just drop me a PMreview._**

**_ANYWAYS... sorry about that, those who are not interested. on with the show! the song from last chapter was "Another Day" by Paramore! special shout out to _**tivaandmcabby**_who wanted to see Ziva and Ari make up. your wish is my command (at least in the fanfiction world.)_**

**_DISCLAIMER: i still own nothing :(_**

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><p><em>Chapter 19- Left yourself in your war path. Lost your balance on a tightrope. Lost your mind trying to get it back…<em>

Ziva's fists pounded hard against the door of her prison, but it stubbornly stayed where it was, as if it personally had an issue with her. Ignoring the stabbing pain that went through her knuckles she felt every time her fists encountered the solid surface she continued hitting it until her fists were a harsh red. She felt hounded and cornered like a dog. She was mad like a dog. They had no right to treat her like this, no right to trap her and corner her like this.

"Open the fucking door _right_ _now_ before I blow the thing up!"

No reply. And the door remained irritatingly solid, as if Ziva thought that by staring at it, it would liquidise out of fear. Apparently not.

"You have no right to keep me here! If you don't open this door, I swear you will shoot my way out!"

Silence.

Her fellow cellmate sat casually on one of the chairs, the only pieces of furniture in the room, his relaxed posture and expression only fuelling Ziva's fury. She unholstered the gun that was concealed in her left boot and slid back the safety catch. She had not been joking when she said that she would shoot her way out of this room. She adjusted her posture, one foot slightly in front of the other, her weight distributed evenly, the position that best cushioned the recoil. She pointed her gun at her chosen target; the door, and was about to take the shot when her cellmate spoke again.

"You seriously should reconsider that," he said casually, and Ziva snarled in response.

"It's your fault that we are here in the first place!" Ziva spoke icily, turning to him for the first time since they were forced into the room.

_***1 hour earlier…***_

"_You do realise that she is probably going to kill you. Not to mention Ari…" McGee said to Abby, attempting to be the voice of reason in their plans. He was not particularly successful. _

"_She will thank us one day Timmy! And besides, they really need to sort out their issues, or they are just both going to stubbornly avoid the subject for the rest of their lives! And then they are going to die sworn enemies!" Abby said, her hands gesturing dramatically as she told of the consequences if they did not do what she wanted them to think about doing. She was using so many verbal exclamation marks that Tim was sure she would combust with enthusiasm. If that was scientifically possible. Well, maybe if she…_

"_Tony, what do you think," Abby said, turning to Tony, and untimely interrupting Tim's musing on the likelihood of Abby spontaneously combusting, "Tony?"_

_Said man was standing in the kitchen with his mug of coffee staring out of the window into the garden. He looked distant and was only pulled back into reality by Abby's voice. _

"_Huh?" he said, turning around. Abby sighed dramatically. _

"_Ziva. Locked in a room with Ari. Make up. Happy Ziva, Happy Ari," she summarised. Tony nodded, _

"_Yeah sure," he said, and went back to staring out of the window. _

_McGee looked incredulous, _

"_And what about the part after the locking up thing where she comes after us with a knife and threatens to castrate us?"  
>This did not phase Abby. <em>

"_I'll take care of what's in those pants, don't worry Timmy," Abby replied. This caused Tony to turn around abruptly and shudder. He did not know what the situation between those two was, but he definitely did not want that mental image. _

"_So what's your plan?" Tony asked. _

"_We lock Ari in the conservatory. We send Ziva in. I've already bugged the place so we can listen to them."_

"_Abby, how long have you been thinking of this plan?" Tim asked. This was way too though out to have been a spur of the moment thing. _

_Abby had the decency to look sheepish. _

"_A while."_

_Tony looked at her, eyebrows raised. _

"_OK, I was planning in locking Sarah in there with Jack until they admitted their feelings for each other. Lucki-" she was cut off by Tim standing up abruptly._

"_Sarah, as in my little sister?" Tim asked, incredulous. Abby looked even more guilty._

"_I didn't have to in the end. They did it by themselves!"_

"_My little sister has a boyfriend!" he said, his voice now considerably higher than it was a few moments ago. His cheeks were also going an interesting shade of red…_

"_She is only your little sister by 10 minutes."_

"_She has a boyfriend?" Tim said again. _

"_Okay, Abby. I think McGirlfriend is going into shock," Tony interrupted, deciding that now was a good time for him to intervene. If McGee's voice got any higher the neighbourhood dogs may come and claim him as one of their own. His eyes were round and as wide as they had been when he had seen Abby changing after coming back from a pool party. _

"_But… she… I…" McGee stuttered. _

"_Easy there, probie," Tony said settling him down on one of the kitchen chairs and pushing his head in between his legs, "just breathe."_

"_So," Tony said, turning to Abby once he was certain that McGee was not going to pass out on them, "what's the plan?"_

_If Tony had not known that the plan was supposed to be to help Ari and Ziva to make up, he would have thought it was more along the lines of world domination, going on her evil genius grin…_

*Present time*

"Did you have something to do with this?" Ziva asked menacingly, turning on her heels to face Ari full on. Ari was completely aware that Ziva still had her gun out with the safety catch off, so was wary of his answer.

"I was told to come and sit in here, and that they would join me later," Ari said. Ziva stared at him for a long moment, looking at him hard like she was trying to search his soul, before deciding that he was telling the truth. She put her gun away, and Ari relaxed slightly. But he was fully aware that Ziva was able to kill him with nothing more than a paperclip, so he was not out of the woods yet.

"So I guess that this is the part where we open up and talk about our feelings?" Ari said dryly. His sense of humour had not changed in all these years. But instead of finding him funny like she would have back in the day Ziva just let out a bark of sarcastic laughter.

The silence that fell upon was tangible. Ziva was still fuming about how her "friends" had decided to gang up on her. She had agreed to come back to Abby's with Kate after their coffee without thinking. And now she was in this mess. Damn them all. Damn her stupidity. Damn this conservatory and that spider plant that was just looking at her. It was practically laughing at her pain, for goodness sake! She could see it in its eyes.

"Do they really think that they can lock two Mossad officers in a room together and expect them not to get out?" Ziva ranted, not caring that she was talk to her brother who she had refused to talk to before.

"One Mossad officer," Ari corrected.

Ziva turned to glare at him, "you do not consider me a Mossad officer?"

"I am not a Mossad officer. I have not been for years."

"Yeah, I noticed," she retorted quickly. Ari leaned forward in his chair.

"_There are reasons that I left, Ziva," _Ari spoke softly and in Hebrew, knowing that the other both could not hear him and would not understand even if they did.

Ari had not finished.

"_Our father is a dangerous man."_

Ziva narrowed her eyebrows.

"_You think I do not know. Eli put me in the army the year that you left. I was 12."_

Ari looked shocked and disgusted at the information. He cursed under his breath and shut his eyes. But Ziva was not finished with filling Ari in with the parts of her childhood that he missed.

"_At the age of 13 I made my first kill. At 14 I made and detonated my first dirty bomb. Do NOT try lecture me on what our father is capable of," _she said, her voice nothing above a whisper. But she may as well have been yelling at him, as Ari flinched as if everything was a physical blow.

Ari's mind was in turmoil. He had left his sister, for what he had thought was for the better, swearing that one day he would come rescue her. But while he was living miles away Eli David was grooming Ziva to be his next perfect weapon. Maybe if he had not left he could have saved her from that destiny. Maybe if he had stayed he could have convinced Eli not to put Ziva through the training. Damn…

"I am sorry, Ziva," Ari cringed at the words that had just come out of his mouth. They seemed so ridiculously meaningless and stupid in comparison to the magnitude of the situation. And the magnitude of the hole he had left in her life when he left.

"Do not apologise. It is a sign of weakness," Ziva answered quickly.

"Is that one of Eli's rules?" Ari asked amused.

"No. Another mentor," Ziva said. But there was a smile in her voice, giving Ari the impression that he may not be forgiven completely, but she was not willing to lose a brother for the second time.

Gibbs had been teaching her his rules and even though she did not agree with all of them, she still found herself dropping them into conversations occasionally.  
>"And have you ever told this mentor that it takes strength to apologise?" Ari asked. Ziva laughed, this time genuinely amused.<p>

"You can tell him that yourself…" she said, imagining what Gibbs would have to say to that.

"So who is this mentor? And when do I get to meet him?"

"He is..." Ziva searched for the right words to describe Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Since their first meeting where he had been both shocked and appalled at her knowledge of armed combat, he had grown to be more than a teacher and mentor. He understood how sometimes shooting the crap out of a paper target was more therapeutic than talking. He understood her drive for perfection in hand to hand combat, her meticulous cleaning and maintenance of her weapons. Yet there was so much that he taught her. He taught her that emotion was not a weakness. He taught her that there was such thing as unconditional love. He taught her his rules. He was her father in every sense of the word other than the biological way.

"You will see when you meet him," Ziva summarised her thoughts.

"When?" Ari asked, zoning in on that part of her statement. Ziva grinned.

"Do you think they will let us out now?" Ari asked casually.

"Abby! If you let us out I promise we won't kill you or Tim?" Ziva yelled, knowing full well that they could hear them. She idly wondered where the bugs were in the room. The obvious places would be behind that spider plant in the corner, and possibly one in the speakers attached to the ceiling. Ziva could almost hear Abby rolling her eyes at her "crazy ninja skills" as Abby would put it. Ziva walked over to the frosted glass door, and she guessed the blurred dark figure clothes in a tartan mini skirt and black T-shirt was Abby. Unless there was something that Tim was not telling her…

"Have you guys made up yet?" Abby asked, her voice slightly muffled by the barrier between them.  
>"Yes!" both David's replied, annoyed. The combined menace in their voices made Abby take a physical step back from the door, as if their menace could pierce through the frosted glass and cause her to be frelted.<p>

Abby opened the door wide and Ziva shot out of the room like a bullet.

"Where are you going?" Abby asked, scared that Ziva was mad at her and was going to refuse to talk to her.

"I've spent all afternoon in this room. I need to pee!"

And with those deadly serious and angry words, Ziva waddled off in search of a restroom. Tony and Tim were also in the room a few paces behind Abby. She was gone only a few seconds before all of them burst out laughing.

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><p><strong><em>awwww... sibling love...<em>**

**_REVIEWS please! :)_**


	20. Chapter 20

**_Hello!_**

**_i still can't get over the fact that people are actually reading my work... you guys are AWESOME!_**

**_for those who are suffering from TIVA withdrawal symptoms, fear not. i promise there is some coming, not in this chapter but in the next. i was going to put it in this chapter, but the chapter was getting ridiculously long... :P_**

**_shoutout to _**MegpieLovesTiva**_(again :P) for guessing the song _**

**_DISCLAIMER: i own nothing. :(_**

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><p><strong><em>Chapter 20- let's make this last forever.<em>**

Abby stood at her front door, her arms firmly attached around Kate. She saw Ari looking guiltily over Kate's shoulder, but Abby ignored him for a moment.

"Come visit again soon. And I had better be invited to you and Ari's wedding," Abby said, her voice slightly muffled as her throat was crushed against Kate's body.

"Wedding?" Kate asked startled, pulling back to see Abby's cheeky grin.

"I just wanted to be the first to ask!" Abby said, attempting to sound innocent. With little success.

Kate turned to Ari to see if he had been spending too much time with Abby. Ari just shrugged, clearly as clueless about their wedding as she was, and grinned at her, and she smiled back.

"And I want to be the first to know when you and Tim finally get together," Kate said in the same tone. Now it was Abby's turn to look embarrassed and defiance.

"I just wanted to be the first to ask!" Kate said, mimicking Abby's earlier tone. Abby rolled her eyes and pulled Kate into a hug again. When they withdrew and Abby finally allowed her to let go Kate moved along the line of their farewell fanfare.

"You hear that Tim?" Kate asked grinning. Tim smiled and did not reply, instead pulling Kate into a warm brotherly hug.

As Kate progressed down the line Ari followed her hefting their luggage. For Ari, it was only a well worn rucksack with the bare minimum inside. Kate's luggage was… not so minimal. She had one big carry on overnight bag, one giant red solid shell suitcase, which was even heavier than it looked. And it looked like it weighed the same as Ari. On top of that, there were the presents and the products of Kate's shopping trips ("what? They don't have some of these products at home!") Ari was glad his luggage fitted as hand luggage, as his _darling_ girlfriend was clearly going to utilise his spare luggage space. It was a good thing that he was prepared for all eventualities.

Ari tried to make his way past Abby and draw as little attention to himself as possible, but with not degree of success. Abby just gave him a look and Ari put down the bags in his hands Abby wrapped her arms around him. Ari looked over to where Kate and Tony were caught up in their latest slinging of insults, then returned the favour, and started whispering discreetly in Abby's ear.

"I'm going to shake your hand after this. I will pass you a letter which explains this. Don't tell anyone, especially Ziva," Ari said quickly and Abby nodded her head inconspicuously, but enough so Ari knew what she was doing. Ari released her, a shook her hand, and Abby felt a folded up piece of paper being places in her hand. She slipped the paper into her pocket and smiled. Ari gave her one last look to confirm his message. Only when Abby smiled back did Ari also smile openly.

Ari picked up the bags and moved along the line of people waving them farewell. He nodded at Tim, their friendship having grown since Tim struck up a conversation regarding classic novels, a subject that both shared a passion from. Ari had taken his email address, promising to write to him after he finished all of the Sherlock Holmes books to give his opinion on each. Next down the line was Tony, and again Ari checked his surroundings before speaking. Kate was in a tight embrace with his sister, so he could see that the coast was clear.

Tony grinned at him but Ari did not smile back. His eyes had darkened considerably, and he seemed almost hostile when he spoke.

"You hurt her and I will end you," he said. Tony got a glimpse of the steely Hamas mole that was well concealed underneath Ari's laid back behaviour. Ari had been one of the best, and Tony could see the old traits shining through in the threat.

Tony said nothing but nodded, both acknowledging his understanding of Ari and the fact that he would not dare harm Ziva. Ari seemed to understand the message and nodded back and smiled, the anger vanishing from his composure as quickly as it came. Tony was slightly unnerved by the shift in mannerisms, but he had seen a similar thing reflected in Ziva, with tightly reined in emotions, and anger so intense for someone of that age.

When the fanfare had ceased as Ari and Kate ducked into the taxi Abby reached into her pocket to run the piece of paper between her fingers. What was it? And why was Ari so keen for this piece of paper to remain unseen by Ziva? Maybe it was some dark family secret that Ziva did not know about. Maybe it was ancient secrets of Hamas and its inner workings. The paper burned in her pocket, the rest of the room oblivious to the inner turmoil that was taking place in her mind.

When the others finally left, after what seemed like hours (which was in the real world, 15 minutes) Abby was certain that the coast was clear. Even then she counted to 500 just in case. When she reached that number she almost ripped the piece of paper out of her pocket. She unfolded the paper and scanned her eyes over the neatly written lettering.

_**Dear Abigail, **_

_**I did not have the opportunity to talk to you alone in our time together. However there were some fundamental events that were not talked about and I fear that if I do not tell one of you, it will ruin Ziva. I entrust this information to you, and hope you use it wisely. You are also given permission to tell anyone else who you believe trustworthy enough to help with your mission, if you choose to accept. **_

Abby was almost quivering in excitement. This was big. She read on, hungrily devouring every inked word on the page.

_**On the 14th November, it is Ziva's 18th birthday. **_

Oh, Abby thought to herself. Is that it?

_**I am not aware of what Ziva has told you, but our father is not a good man. It is extremely likely that he will do nothing for her birthday, or even acknowledge the date. Therefore, I trust that you and whoever you choose to assist you will make her day special. It is unlikely that she had ever had her birthday celebrated "properly". You may be attempting a first.**_

_**In the cupboard underneath the bathroom sink, there is a plain brown parcel addressed to Ziva. Could you give this to Ziva on her birthday? There is a note from me and a present that she is not allowed to decline. I trust you will make sure of this. **_

_**The rest of her birthday I will leave to your imagination. I hope that this is not too much to ask. And I expect to hear all about it. I will e-mail you when I can find a secure internet connection. **_

_**Ari David-Haswari**_

Abby read the words in utter shock. Ziva had never celebrated her birthday properly before! What monstrosity was this! That was like living with not listening to Death Jam, or a world with no McGee! Birthdays were a basic commodity, something that was not to be lived without. A plan began to formulate in Abby's mind. This was going to be good…

oooOOOooo

_One week later…_

Ziva pulled her earphones out of her ears and rang the doorbell of her house. Rebecca swung the door open and grinned at the panting Ziva who was smiling ear to ear. Rebecca looked as if she was going to hug Ziva, but then wrinkled her nose as her.

"You shower. Then you eat," she said, and Ziva knew better than to argue. Grinning she ran up the stairs taking two at a time, eager to start the day.

Five minutes and one shower later Ziva slid into her seat at the breakfast table. As soon as she had sat down Rebecca placed a steaming plate of scrambled eggs and a tall glass of passion fruit juice. Ziva gave her a surprised look at meal.

"Don't get used to it," was all that Rebecca said. Ziva grinned and tucked in. She was going to make the most of the whole birthday thing while she could.

As she ate she shuffled her way through the morning's post. Among the usual rubbish that came through their door there were some letters addressed to her. The first was from her Aunt Nettie in Tel Aviv, who was not particularly close to her, so the card came with the generic "to… from…". The next was a card that had looked as if it had been through the wars. And when Ziva read who it was from, she understood why. The card was covered in scribbles messages from her squad back in the army. It literally had been through the wars (pun intended.) Ziva smiled like a maniac as she read the slightly eccentric messages from her adoptive brothers. Most teenagers were raised by parents, but looked like they were raised by wolves. Ziva David was raised by her squad in the Israeli army. She shook the envelope again and a photo fluttered out. Ziva lifted it up, reading the note to "stay safe" on the back. She turned it over to examine the photo on the other side. It was an old one, from back in her army days with all the guys. It was at the Christmas party, designed to help the guys deal with the reality that they were not going to return home for the holiday season. Even though the majority of them didn't even celebrate Christmas, but it was more the celebration of hope and salvation that these men were clinging on to. And there was also the alcohol. Ziva smiled at the memory. It was that night when she had tried her first drop alcohol. Which had then resulted in several more drops of alcohol. That night Ziva had learned many things about life. One of those things was that some of her battalion could be drunk under the table with ease.

"Your father left you something," Rebecca said as she breezed past, taking a moment to look at the photograph in Ziva's hand. She motioned with her head towards the folded white piece of paper that was sitting on the table. Ziva abandoned the pile of post in favour of the letter from her father. It was strange how even though she despised her father, if he called even through a letter she would come running. It was some strange innate reflex that bound her to her father unwillingly. She opened it and scanned the contents hungrily.

_Ziva, _

_You are now eligible to set up a current account with the bank. I have taken the liberty of doing this, therefore you can start extracting money as soon as you go and collect your card from the bank. Do not spend it all at once. _

_Eli._

Ziva could not help but feel disappointed. Was that it? No "happy birthday" or good wishes? All she got was a warning not to be stupid? But this was Eli David that she was talking about. She sighed, but was not going to let Eli David put a dampener on her day. After all, it was not every day that you became a legal adult.

oooOOOooo

Ziva schooled her features before she entered the school that morning. She highly doubted anyone knew that it was her birthday, so they may find it strange when she came in grinning like an idiot. And she was not going to mention it, in fear that they might feel guilty about not knowing it. She entered the code to get into the school and walked the corridors to get to her form room. She swung open the door and stopped in surprised.

Perched on her desk was a massive pile of presents. There were balloons attached to her chair, and someone had scrawled "happy birthday" on the whiteboards, and everyone in the form had signed it. Abby ran up to her and Ziva just had time to brace herself before Abby launched herself at her.

"Happy birthday!" she squealed in Ziva's ear.

"But… How…" Ziva was lost for words. No-one had ever made such a big deal about her birthday, not even her own family. She saw Sarah from over Abby's shoulder grinning at her. It seemed that she knew that, and that was the reason they had made the effort.

"A little birdie told me," Abby said drawing back, looking extremely proud that she had out ninja-ed the ninja.

"Ari?"

"Yup!" Abby said. Ziva couldn't hide the grin on her face. Wow.

"You've got to open my present first!" Abby said as Ziva walked over to her desk. Not that she could see her desk underneath all of the stuff. Much to Ziva's surprise there was also a cake on her desk, with slightly wobbly "Happy birthday Ziva" written on it. Ziva looked inquisitively at Abby.

"Sarah and McGee made it," Abby answered her unasked question. Ziva nodded.

She pulled back her chair, not quite knowing how to handle the situation. Where was she supposed to start? She decided that the cake would be the best place.

She casually secreted a knife from somewhere on her person and proceeded to offer it to Abby.

"Would you like to do the honours?"

Abby's look of horror was clear.

"Birthday girl always cuts the cake!" Abby said, as if it was a crime to even suggest that someone else do it. Ziva nodded and proceeded to cut the cake into neat sections.

"Who wants some?" she addressed the rest of the class. Before she knew it the class were gathered around the table, passing around the slices of cake, all wishing Ziva a happy birthday. Ziva had never been surrounded by so many birthday wishes. It was surreal.

When the crows had dissipated back to their nests Abby started on Ziva again.

"Open mine first!"

Ziva turned to Sarah who shrugged, as if suggesting that resistance was futile. Turning back the pile of presents Ziva quickly spotted which belonged to Abby. Who else would wrap a birthday present in red and black tissue paper?

Ziva first opened the card. It was a strange kind of design, and… was that a hippo? Ziva shook her head in amusement and read the contents of the card.

_Ziva, _

_HAPPY BIRTHDAY! YOU ARE NOW AN ADULT SO YOU CAN DO WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT! WE CAN TOTALLY GO CLUBBING AND STUFF AND HAVE ALCOHOL! IT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME! WE CAN GO TO LIQUID, AND WE DON'T EVEN HAVE TO GO TO THE UNDER 18S ONE ANYMORE! WOOOO!_

_LOTS OF LOVE ABBY xxxxxxxxxx_

Ziva found it amazing that Abby wrote exactly how she spoke. That was quite something. Ziva then cleaned her knife that she had used with the cake on a napkin, and used it to slice open the ribbon. She was carefully opening the present, trying to keep the wrapping in one piece.

"Just open it already!" Abby said, growing impatient. Ziva bit her lip, a glint in her eyes and gave into the childish desire. She ripped the paper open and found a strange stuffed toy in it.

"Abby?" Ziva asked, genuinely confused.

"Squeeze it!"

Ziva did as instructed and jumped a mile when it farted loudly. Ziva laughed.

"Just to remind you that you might be an adult now, but you are allowed to be a child," Abby explained. Ziva sensed the deeper meaning in the sentence and, for the first time pulled Abby into a hug.

"Thank you," Ziva said. Abby almost missed how thick Ziva's voice sounded, but when she withdrew Ziva was back to her usual self.

Ziva made her way through the pile of presents, laughing at some of them and thanking the givers. That rock-paper-scissors-lizard-spock T-shirt was quite something. Ziva got to the bottom of the pile where there was a plain brown box with no card and no kind of personal touch. Ziva sent a cautious look at Abby and Sarah. The last time she had opened such a non-discrepant package it turned out to be full of a mysterious white powder, which turned out to be anthrax. There had been better days. But one look from Abby put her mind at ease. A little. She made a neat incision where the box was cellotaped together and opened it. She opened the folded white piece of paper and read. But instead of a letter all that was written was an address. Underneath the paper was a set of keys. They were too chunky to be to a building, so what was it?

"It's from Ari," Abby said, detecting Ziva's worry. Ziva relaxed with the new information. She knew with Ari the secrecy was necessary.

"We're meeting the guys in the music school at break so they can give you their presents," Abby said. And the day went on.

oooOOOooo

Tony wrung his hands out nervously as they waited for Ziva in the music room. The whole of the band had turned up to wish Ziva happy birthday. He knew that his present was a little pathetic, but he hope that she liked it.

Moments later the door swung open and Abby practically dragged Ziva into the room. Tony could not bite back a grin as he saw the giant "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY" badge. Clearly Abby had managed to have her way with her…

"Happy birthday Ziva!" McGee spoke first and drew Ziva in for a brotherly hug. Ziva returned it, thanking him for the cake. He produced a neatly wrapped package.

"You have Sarah to thank for the green icing. I did tell her that green was not a natural colour for icing but…" he trailed off, as Ziva became distracted by the present. She seemed almost childishly excited as she opened the present. As childish as someone could be as they sliced open a present with a knife…

Ziva ripped open the final layer of wrapping and found a pile of classic novels that Ziva was saying that she had never read, but had always wanted to read. She grinned widely and gave him a hug in thanks. That was the moment that Tony decided to interrupt.

"Hey. This is for you," he said, slightly awkwardly. Ziva smiled shyly at him. For two people who a few weeks ago had so much to say to each other this was weird for them. Not to mention the other people in the room.

Ziva ripped open the envelope and read the front of it aloud.

"As if Eddie's splitting headache wasn't bad enough…" she read, scanning the picture of the potato and opened the card, "he could see his knob was melting too."

Ziva laughed out loud, her eyes shining at the card. Tony missed that carefree laugh. Whenever they had spoken in the passed through weeks they had been yelling at each other, and Ziva was practically threatening to kill him. This was a change.

"Thank you," she said smiling at him and Tony was taken back to when they were friends and on talking terms, with no complications. He wanted that.

Ziva read on through the card in her head. The rest of the room were in silence, waiting for Ziva to say something. Finally she looked up shyly.

"Yes," she said, looking at Tony, who after hearing her reply grinned like a maniac. Abby peered over Ziva's shoulder, curiosity getting the better of her. There was only one word, but Abby could see why they were both so happy.

_Dinner?_

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><p><em><strong>Ziva's birthday dinner with Tony still to come! i would love to know if this chapter is any good... REVIEWS PLEASE :)<strong>_


	21. Chapter 21 bring on the rain

**_happy star wars day! :D_**

**_my life is kind of crazy at the moment... so i am extremely sorry for the late update! :( i know many of you were looking forward to this chapter, and i hope i do not disappoint! this is the longer chapter i have written, well, ever. so i hope you enjoy! there were a couple more scenes i wanted in this chapter, but i had to cut them out or the chapter became ridiculously long. :)_**

**_DISCLAIMER: me no own._**

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><p><strong>Chapter 21- Your eyes are the brightest of all the colours, I don't want to ever love another. You'll always be my thunder. So bring on the rain, bring on the thunder.<strong>

Abby and Ziva were walking down the streets of the town, Ziva blindly following Abby as she jabbered on about the strange piece of electrical technology that she held in her hand, that was apparently leading them to where they were supposed to be going. In the beginning Ziva had tried to argue with Abby about the merits of old fashioned maps over electronic equipment, but she had been drowned out. Now Ziva was simply smiling and enjoying the sunshine, and hadn't noticed when Abby stopped talking.

"Ziva? Ziva! Are you even listening?"

Ziva smiled. "You lost me at "it is so cool! There is this button that.""

"Why are none of you people interested in this?"

"With the exception of Tim?" Ziva asked, trying to sound innocent but her words being layered with meaning.

"Yes. Wait, hold on…" Abby said, after she realised what Ziva may have been implying.

"You two connect on a level that we mere technology mortals do not understand?" Ziva asked teasingly.

"Just because Timmy is the only person who appreciates the technological advances, doesn't mean I have feelings for Timmy! But really, Timmy? I mean, Timmy?" then as an after-thought, "I'm going to stop saying Timmy now."

Ziva said nothing but gave her a look that told Abby that she had been rumbled.

"Why does it even matter? It's not like anything is going to happen…" Abby trailed of, now pretending to be engrossed in her toy.

Ziva said nothing again, and eventually Abby ground to a halt and turned to face Ziva fully.

"OK, fine! I like him. A lot! But there is nothing that is going to make him see me like this! I don't want to wreck what we have and make everything awkward between us!"

Ziva smiled. And she hadn't even had to employ any of her less-than-nonviolent Mossad interrogation techniques. Score!

"Trust me, he would not mind. In fact, I think he would enjoy it," Ziva stated deadpan.

"Ziva!" Abby squealed, shocked at what she was implying. Who would have known, the girl who could not master idioms, but was still able to put some sexual innuendo in the flow of sentence… and make it funny!

They turned left into an alley that Ziva had never walked down before. It was not near the main high-street, and Ziva instinctively reached for the knife that was concealed at her waist. Abby also seemed on alert, she had not been this way and she had lived in this place all of her life.

They fell silent as they walked further and further into the unknown, the traffic and the shops seeming so far away.

"Turn right. Then we are there," Abby said as they reached a junction.

Ziva mentally prepared herself for what may be around the corner. But nothing could prepare her for what she saw. Her eyes grew wide at the sight in front of her.

"Abby, are you sure this is the right address?"

"It is."

Ziva was rooted to the ground in shock.

"Wow," was all the usually talkative Abby could say to summarise the situation, and Abby was, well Abby.

"Agreed," Ziva said in an equal tone.

In front of them sat a brand new red mini cooper with a bow tied jauntily in the wing mirror, as if it itself was laughing at the irony. Ziva pulled the key that she had been given and walked up to car. She slotted the key into the door and unsurprisingly it sprung open and the headlights flashed in acknowledgement. She climbed into the driver's marvelling and the clean and polished interior. Her eyes were drawn to an envelope that was attached to the dashboard. She ripped the letter open and read.

_Ziva. _

_Happy birthday. I wish you all the happiness in the world. God knows, you deserve it. _

_Your brother. _

Ziva almost stopped reading until she saw the post script written on the bottom.

_P.S. I would appreciate if you burned this letter after you have read it. You can never be too careful. _

Ziva smiled to herself. Trust her brother to get her such a gift. He had a habit of treating her too nicely. She did not deserve his love, but appreciated it all the same. She was still hurting from all those years, but Ari was really trying to make it right. Ziva smiled sadly, almost nostalgic in thinking about what it could have been like. What if Ari had not gone all those years ago? What if she had had a brother growing up? What would she have been like? What would she have done differently? She shook these thoughts out of her head, determined that the past would stay in the past. But the final addition to his note reminded her that nothing could ever go back to how it used to be. Reminded her that to the rest of the world, her brother was dead and had been for some time. When she had first found out that Ari was alive, yes she had been angry but part of her wanted to hug him, keep him close just to prove that it was not just a dream. She wanted to run down the street and scream with joy. Her big brother had pulled a Buffy and come back to her! And when she got home she wanted to tell Rebecca about Ari so badly. Ari had practically been Rebecca's son, and she was as affected by his "death" as if he was her own flesh and blood. As Ziva watched Rebecca cook and chatted about a day which she had to make up as a cover story for fighting with Ari, she wanted to tell her. She could help wondering to herself what would happen if she knew. How would she react if she knew? But of course she was never going to know. At least, not from Ziva.

Ziva climbed back out of the car to where Abby was pacing, admiring the framework of the car. Abby smiled at her, conveying the silent message just to check up on her and Ziva shot her one back. Yes she was all fine. But she would be.

"Have you got a lighter?" Ziva asked and Abby was unfazed. She rummaged through her handbag for a few moments, shifting her hands between all the rubbish that was there before triumphantly pulling out a fluorescent green lighter. Abby handed it to Ziva, who flicked it open with deadly and worrying ease. She lifted the note to the flame and watched as the fire consumed it. She pages curled, as if fleeing from the heat before turning black and surrendering to their fate. Ziva waited until the flame had engulfed most of the paper, and was at risk of burning her fingers before dropping it to the ground and stamping it out. Now it was just ash lying on the ground, to be blown away with just a mere gust of wind.

Ziva turned to Abby, and Abby noticed that Ziva looked more relaxed than she had before. As if she had found closure in whatever it was that was written on the letter. It was exactly what she needed to move on with her life. She was 18 years old, and now for the first time in her life had the opportunity to be herself again. Ziva eyes danced with mischief as she spoke.

"You want to take it for a spin?"

"You can drive?" Abby said disbelievingly.

"Of course I can drive!" Ziva said. She chose not to mention that she had been taught how to drive at the age of 11 by Ari in his old beat up truck. But she did have a licence! Sure it was in the drawer next to her bed where she kept all the identification cards for her various aliases, and she had a number of different driver's licenses from a number of countries. Some of them were real. But not many.

Abby hesitated, knowing that she was getting herself into something. But what could possibly go wrong? she thought to herself as she slipped into the passenger seat of the mini.

Twenty minutes and one terrifying car journey later Abby staggered out of the car. She heard the squeal of tyres as Ziva sped off into the distance. Crazy ninja….

Ziva cranked up the volume of the sizable radio that was currently blasting out some heavy rock music from the speaker. It was a good day. But a thought stopped her flow of thought. _Shit, _she thought to herself, _what am I supposed to tell Eli?_

oooOOOooo

Tony pulled nervously at the collar of his shirt. It was a dark blue button down that looked casual, but also neat and looked like he had made an effort. He peeked at the lasagna that was cooking in the oven for the fifth time in two minutes in between watching the hands of the clock tick by and checking his watch to see if the two times were different. They weren't. As he realised what he was doing he forced himself to walk into the living room and sit down. He had meticulously cleaned when he had got home from school. He forced himself to take a few more deep breaths and relax. He was Anthony DiNozzo, the charmer, the ladies' man. Now he was acting like McProbie on his first date. But Tony could not help but let his eyes wonder to the clock on top of the mantel piece. Where was Ziva?

Ziva ran around the house like a headless chicken, one hand pushing her earring in, the other pushing open doors to look for Rebecca to let her know of her plans. She found her in the living room folding the clothes in the living room.

"You look nice? Hot date?" Rebecca asked the seemingly innocent question. But with her it was anything but innocent.

"I'm going out to dinner with a friend. It's not a date," Ziva said adamantly, having finally got her earring to co-operate with her and fixed the back on. She turned to the mirror above the mantel piece and fluffed her hair out slightly. She pulled a face at herself, still not certain whether she was dressed appropriately. But it was too late to go back and change now. She turned to Rebecca.

"How do I look?"

"He won't be able to resist," she answered, and Ziva sighed, resigning to the fact that Rebecca was still going to see it as a date. Ziva nodded at Rebecca and was out the door in moments.

As the dust settled behind her Rebecca shook her head and smiled. Teenagers…

Tony heard the car drive up to the house before he heard the knock on the door. He had been listening for any sign that Ziva was coming. He did not know how she was going to be arriving, so he had been listening for engines, for footfalls. Hell, if anyone's shadow passed across his house, he had checked if it was Ziva. He took a deep breath and opened the door to find Ziva standing nervously on his front porch. And he had to pretty much scrape his jaw off the pavement.

She had some strange soft material dress thing (he was a guy. He was not supposed to know what it was called) that looked like she was some kind of Greek goddess. The white of the dress contrasted beautifully with her skin, making the white seem even more pure and innocent, and her skin look even tanner and glowing. Her earrings were so long they almost brushed her shoulders, one of which was slightly exposed dependant on how she moved.

"Take a picture. It will last longer," Ziva said, completely deadpan. With the two of them, normal greetings were seemingly redundant. Anything that vaguely followed normality was redundant.

"You got one right!" Tony said as soon as he was able to form a sentence. Maybe she had spent too much time in Britain…

Tony stood there for another moment admiring her before he realised that she was standing on his doorstep. And he had made no move to let her in.

"After you," he said steeping aside so Ziva could walk past him. Tony took this opportunity to stare at her ass as she walked past.

Ziva walked into the living room taking in the house. It was large and wealthy looking, just as she had expected. The walls were a light beige, making the rooms seen even bigger than they were. Having kicked off her heels Ziva when she had entered the house, Ziva could feel the full effect of the soft carpet underneath her toes.

"Would you like a drink?" Tony asked, not waiting for a reply as he walked up to the alcohol cupboard and selecting a bottle of wine as well as to glasses. He poured a reasonable amount into both cups and handed one to Ziva.

"To your first drop of alcohol," Tony said, to which Ziva let out a very unladylike snort.

"Trust me Tony, I may be 18, but I have had alcohol before."

At Tony's quizzical look Ziva just laughed, not disclosing any information to Tony. Not yet, anyway…

Despite the nerves on both halves, the meal was an enjoyable one, with insults and remarks being thrown across the table as if they had never fought. Ziva had made a jibe at her surprise at the fact that Tony could cook. It was some weird kind of twisted compliment, so Tony took it well. Tony made to stand up to fetch the dessert dishes when he noticed something.

"Ziva, you have a little something," he started, gesturing at her cheek. She grabbed her napkin and began to self-consciously dab at her cheek. It was a shame that it was the wrong one.

"No, it on this side…" Tony said, leaning over with his own napkin to wipe the small slash of pasta sauce. He gently caressed her cheek with his napkin, and Tony could not help but wish that the napkin was not there, that it was just his fingers that were touching the soft skin of her cheek. But he was forced to pull away when he felt Ziva's breath hitch slightly at the contact. He withdrew his hand slowly, and was it his imagination, or did Ziva close her eyes and lean with him for a second. But that moment vanished and Tony hastily made to more to the kitchen.

Once Tony had left the room Ziva let out a sigh of breath. Wait, she had been holding her breath? She had not noticed. But it was hard to notice Anything that was not Tony when he was there caressing her so gently and lovi- no she could not say that. Tony was just innocently helping out a friend. Stress on the word "friend". He was happily in a relationship with Jeanne, and it was not her fault if she still found him amazingly stunning. But she could not use the "L-word" Because there was nothing to do with "love" in their relationship. Ziva was certain that their relationship was nothing of that kind.

Tony walked back into the dining room carefully balancing the two plates of ice-cream in his hands. Suddenly Ziva was pounded with the image of Tony swirling his tongue around a spoon of ice-cream, before he kissed her, transferring the taste into her mouth. Ziva could almost taste the ice-cold sweetness on her tongue, her imagination was so vivid. But that was all it was. Imagination. She turned to stare at Tony in the eye, hoping that he had not seen the open desire that she had just felt. For a moment, she thought that he was going to say something. But he did not and she was glad. If she couldn't control these lusty thought then there was very little hope that she was going to refrain from anything that may or may not happen. And that was a dangerous place to be.

Tony was having similar conflicting thoughts. He had seen something in her eyes for a moment, something that made him want to put down the ice-cream, not caring If it melted and kiss her until she forgot everything but his name. He shoved those thoughts aside and continued walking. He could not think this. He had a girlfriend, for goodness sake! Yeah, sure, he was a player, but he would not cheat on anyone. Even that was below him. So he did nothing but pretend that he had not seen anything.

Tony had thought he had seen it all. There was nothing that any girl did that surprised him anymore, not one trick in the book that he did not know. But Ziva was proving him wrong. For he had no way of predicting that effect of Ziva eating ice-cream would have on him. She swirled her tongue around the spoon, putting the spoon in her mouth before pulling it out, the size of the blob of ice-cream decreasing in size every time she did it. She would then repeat this over and over again, until the ice-cream was in a small enough shape to be placed in her mouth, when she put in into her mouth and licked it, cleaning the spoon of all the traces of ice-cream. And then she would take another spoonful, and the process was starting again.

Tony was in a little bit of heaven, and a little bit of hell. She was going to be the death of him. She didn't need any weapons, any extravagant torture weapons. All she would need would be to be herself. And she would have him. He was a dying man. But damn, was he dying happy.

How Tony managed to get through the meal without doing something that they would both regret was beyond him. But somehow when Ziva was pulling on her coat to leave, she was leaving with a smile on her face, a few pounds heavier. She bent over to pick up her shoes and when she straightened up she smiled at him.

"I will see you on Monday?" she said, making it sound more like a question than a statement. Tony nodded at her, not trusting himself to speak. She smiled back at him and walked out of the door.

She got as far as the garden gate when Tony could not take it anymore. He ran out of the house, not caring that he had no shoes on, not caring that the world could probably see. He grabbed her shoulder to turn her around, making her stop in her path.

Her breath was coming a lot shorter, possibly to do with the fact he had scared her, possibly to do with the fact that he was close enough for their breathing to be in the same air. Slowly Tony leaned even closer, his hand coming to rest on her cheek. Ziva closed her eyes and relaxed into his hand, her body seemed to move towards him at its own accord. He took this as good sign and moved his other hand to her waist. He waited for a moment, looking at her closed eye lids and waiting for her move. Slowly, she moved her hand up to cup his face. He had not noticed before, but her hands were shaking slightly, but she was not the only one who was nervous. She moved her hand first to lightly touch his eyebrow, before her hand moved back to his cheek and then to his perfect soft mouth. Tony took a deep breath, her trembling causing a sudden bout of nervousness for him . He had never done this before. Yeah, sure he had kissed, but this actually meant something. This actually had meaning. And this was Ziva. He got distracted when Ziva began to softly trace his lips, as if she were a blind man hesitantly reading brail for the first time. Tony brought his hand up to stop her hand in its path. Surprised Ziva's eyes flickered open, and Tony stared into her eyes. Then when he was certain that this was what she wanted, he leant forward and brushed his lips gently against her.

That one touch was enough, and Ziva fully fell against him, her body pushing against his, and his arms coming up to encircle her frame. The kiss was so light that Ziva almost didn't believe that it happened. But then there was another. And another. And before she knew it she was pushing her mouth back to his, kissing him deeply and frantically, begging him that he would not let her go, begging him that he would not hurt her like she had been hurt so many times before. Giving herself to him. Loving him.

Tony was absorbed by the feeling of her lips moving against his. They were so perfect; they could have been doing this forever. They should have been doing it forever. His hands were buried in her smooth hair, fulfilling the desire that had been present ever since he had seen her that first time in the music school. He had longed to touch her hair, to run his fingers through it to see if it really was as soft as it looked. And it was.

The kiss ended almost grudgingly, with both of them hanging on to that last kiss. Tony pushed his forehead against hers and Ziva opened her eyes. They shone with such happiness that for a moment that just stood there, grinning like complete idiots. And they were happy. But who knew such happiness could come crashing down so very quickly...

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><p><strong><em>TIVA KISS! :D :D :D i wasn't sure about this scene, and i want to know if its any good! so please reviewwww... :D<em>**


	22. Chapter 22

**_so... PERSONAL RECORD FOR MOST REVIEW IN A CHAPTER! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! :D_**

**_Shout out to to _**_ncis FTW, jacklyn, ncisXpsysch12345, tivaandmcabby, MegpielovesTiva, Abbie4Raie, Shadow Ear, Miss Suave, K8 G.H. Ducey, Jenna, Ari's NCIS girl, tiva4eva95, tivalover4ever and EowynGoldberry_**_ :) (phew. that was a long list! :D :D :D)_**

**_anyways to I am sorry for lack of updates :( reality has just got in the way.. imagine that..._**

**_DISCLAIMER: still nope. _**

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><p>Chapter 22- all you've got to do is smile at me and down I go…<p>

Ziva tried to sneak her way back into the house, attempting to reach her bedroom before anyone saw the stupid grin that was plastered over her face. But apparently fate had other plans.

"Ziva!"

Oh. Someone wanted to see her. Ziva took a split second to run her options through her head. But she crossed them all off in her mind. No, she could not run up to her room, get changed and pretend that she had never been gone. No, she could not suddenly feign some weird tropical disease that made her vocal chords swelling up, rendering her speechless. And no, she could not put it down to "just that time of the month". Damn.

Ziva walked through the long corridor, past the living room where she had previously asked Becky her opinion on her chosen outfit what seemed like a lifetime ago, to where the voice had come from. She stood face to face with the door, taking a few moments for her to rid her face of her previous expression. But when she had, she pushed through the heavy office door Ziva went to meet her fate.

She stood in front of the old wooden desk, looking at her father. He was writing some official looking document in some language that Ziva had gone past caring about what it was. Ziva waited patiently for him to finish crossing his final "i"s and dotting his final "t"s. If Ziva had not been in such a good mood she would have made some comment about how he was the one who called her, so why was he acting like he was doing her a favour by seeing her. But she said nothing, as he finally stopped writing and taking his glasses off, placing them on the table in front of him.

"You look nice," he said finally, motioning towards her outfit. But the way he said it gave Ziva the impression that he did not give a damn about what she was wearing, it was merely a comment, like saying something about the weather. She bit back the temptation to roll her eyes. That was such an 11 year old thing to do.

"I noticed that you have acquired a new car," he continued when Ziva did not reply.

"Some friends clubbed together and bought it for me second hand," Ziva said, the lie tripping easily off her tongue. The ease came with years of experience. Not that she was proud of it.

"Some good friends."

_Oh, my brother is one of the best, _Ziva thought to herself, but kept her mouth shut and expression neutral. Her father had was giving her one of those looks, one that unnerved her, as if he could hear her internal monologue. But she kept a straight face. She could trick a polygraph test, she was not going to be taken down by her own father. After all, she had been trained by the best. He had made sure of that.

"Just don't get too attached," he said, and Ziva really had to hold back her inner 11 year old from rolling her eyes. But the moment that Eli said it, Ziva's mind flashed back to Tony. Her father's warning had been too late. She had gotten herself attached. And she was loving every second of it.

A few hours later Ziva lay in her bed, replaying the moments in her head and smiling like an idiot. She was just about to fall asleep when a horrible thought dawned upon her. She leaned over the duvet and grabbed her phone off the desk and shot a message off into cyberspace to one Anthony DiNozzo. Three words that changed whatever their thing was. And it was not the conventional "three words".

_What about Jeanne? Xx_

oooOOOooo

Tony was not looking forward to this part. He wrung his hands nervously as he sat and waited for his company to arrive. He was surrounded by an amalgamation of strange noises, bands at their "bad but enthusiastic" stage, someone casually singing a high B. And he had a feeling that it was a boy. The music was their Switzerland, the neutral ground between his school and their school. And Tony was hoping that this would make war less likely.

The heavy door opened, making a loud popping noise. Tony's mind flashed back to when Ziva had managed to sneak up on him, despite the heavy doors, and scare the crap out of him. He smiled to himself. Just another way that Ziva and Jeanne were so different.

"Hey!" Jeanne said brightly, moving over to kiss him. But he tilted his head so that she kissed his cheek instead. Unfazed, Jeanne drew back and grinned.

"So what was it you wanted to talk about?" and then she caught sight of his expression.

"Tony?"

"I'm sorry Jeanne," he said, hoping that she would get the gist of the situation without the painfully obvious having to be said.

"What… what are you trying to say Tony?" Jeanne said, looking uncertain about the situation for the first time since she had walked into the room. Tony took a breath. He never liked this part.

"I'm sorry Jeanne," he said again.

"Can you just tell me what you are sorry for?" Jeanne said, adding a little nervous laugh at the end of the sentence. Tony had noticed that she did this whenever she was nervous. Or feeling insecure. At first, he had found it rather cute and endearing. Now, not so much.

"It was never anything that you did," Tony started and Jeanne interrupted.

"You're breaking up with me?" she asked incredulous. Tony said nothing, sensing there was something that she wanted to say. And he was right.

She paced the room for a moment, formulating her speech into order. And Tony let her, but watched her like she was an explosive about to go off.

"But you told me you loved me and wanted me!" she said her voice raising and sounding slightly hysteric towards the end. Tony looked at her blankly. He never remembered saying that? And then a horrible thought dawned upon him.

"You mean Dylan told Tracy," Tony said. Their stage names could not have been more different to their real names, but somehow Jeanne must have mixed reality with the play at some point. He cursed himself for not noticing the change, the shift that made his fiction met with her reality. He should have seen it, and then he could have done something to stop her emotions.

"So none of it was real?" she asked, after she took a deep breath and calmed her voice down a few octaves.

Tony wanted to tell her that he thought that he loved her, until he found Ziva. That he had actually told Ziva that he was happy with her. But somehow, he thought it was cruel to give her false hope that there could be anything between them. So even though he knew that she would resent him for the words, he said them anyway.

"No."

At this Jeanne's eyes closed, as she desperately tried to keep the tears from falling. She took a shuddering breath and Tony suppressed the urge to go over and hug her. She would probably hit him or something. And he deserved it. She took another shuddering breath and opened her eyes. Her hostility and hate that shone in her eyes made Tony ashamed of himself. But he could not take his words back now.

"I wish I had never met you," she said, and she fled from the room before he could see the tears spill from her eyes.

Tony sat himself down and put his head in his hands. Never had he felt such guilt over breaking up with someone before. Maybe he had grown up. The crashing of the cymbals at the end of the song in the other room reminded him of where he was, and he stood up, making an exit before anyone saw him.

oooOOOooo

"STOP!" Cynthia yelled at the top of her voice, "what is wrong with you people today!"

Exasperated as a description of her current emotional status was an understatement in the highest accord. This had been the 5th time they had stopped that rehearsal. And it was all because her leading man and lady apparently decided that in the middle of her rehearsal time, weeks until the actual performance, at one of the few full cast rehearsals, to break up. Tony was at least being professional about it, acting exactly as he would have normally regardless of his relationship status with this leading lady. Her leading lady was… not so much. Every time Tony came anywhere near her, whether in character or not Jeanne would refuse to look him in the eyes, read her line too quickly to be understandable, and then get as far away from Tony as she could. And frankly, Cynthia had enough.

"Jeanne Benoit! Would you kindly like to explain to me why you refuse to be within 3 metres of you fictional lover!"

Jeanne glowered. Cynthia sighed. So it was pretty much exactly how it had been for the past 45 minutes. The extras were getting restless. They were like pets, behaving when properly train, but a nightmare to control if together and left to their own devices.

"Ok, back scene 4," Cynthia said, and the show went on. For a while.

Jeanne was now at least walking in roughly the same space as Tony, but when he put his arms around her, or did anything vaguely in character, she had the most uncomfortable and almost pained expression on her face. Her movement with him was robotic and emotionless. And then Cynthia broke.

"ENOUGH!"

The whole of the drama studio fell silent. Sure, Cynthia had shouted at them before, but that was normal directions and designed to be heard over the music. But there was not music, as it someone had switched the off switch on every noise, including the sound of breathing.

"I do not CARE what you and Tony and going through. But if you continue to act so damn UNPROFFESIONALLY, you can leave and don't come back!" she said with malice, pointing at Jeanne and punctuating almost every single word with a jabbing accusative finger.

The whole cast waited in anticipation as Jeanne made her move. She only had a few options, swallow her pride and take direction, or leave. And apparently Jeanne was in favour of the latter.

She stared hard at Cynthia, before walking off stage. All eyes were glued to her as she slung her bag across her shoulder and left the room with her head tilted upwards defiantly.

Cynthia was shocked that the girl had the nerve to do that. She had not expected that outcome. And not Jeanne had left, with a damn mess behind her. She made a mental note to remind herself NEVER to cast Jeanne Benoit into anything _ever _again. She scanned the room, all the extras chatting excitedly about the turn of events. Cynthia did not feel like she could trust anyone with the main role. Then her eyes fell on Ziva. She was talking to one of the dancers, who was trying to explain some aspect of the ball scene that he thought could be incorporated into the next scene. Ziva knew the dance moves. Ziva had seen the musical so many times before.

"Ziva, could you fill in for Jeanne, just for now?" Cynthia asked, and Ziva looked over in surprise. Cynthia smiled. At least something good had come out of this rehearsal. She knew Ziva could sing, no matter what Ziva herself said. After all, Cynthia was the one who auditioned Ziva singing.

Ziva eagerly walked swiftly over to the stage and took her position centre stage. She stole a glance at Tony, who gave her a nod and a smile. And then the scene began.

Cynthia watched the scene unfold, and was as enthralled be the storyline as if she was hearing it for the first time. Ziva managed to put a breath of fresh air into the cast. Cynthia knew exactly what it was like to have a piece practised until every drop of emotion was practised out of them. But now they had a new actress to work with and against. Ziva interacted with the extras and chorus members, keeping them on their feet and their improvisation real. Her interpretations of lines were different, and the new ideas seemed to bring an entirely different dimension to the character. All in all, it was a damn good performance.

The final duet was the climax of the whole play, and Cynthia wanted to run it through to iron out the creases in the choreography. However this meant that Ziva was going to have to sing. Cynthia had known that Ziva probably did not know the song, but let the scene before run into the scene. The dancers only needed the music, so the words were irrelevant. But as the introduction ended, Ziva opened her mouth and sang.

_Wow, _Cynthia thought to herself, _I remember her being good, but damn…_

Similar thought were also going through Tony's head as he stared into her eyes as she sang, a cheeky grin in her eyes, but the rest of her face a mask of professionalism. Tony counted in his head before taking a breath to sing his part.

At first, this seemed to confuse Ziva, as the harmonies overlapped and intertwined in some crazily complicated way. But by the last note, Ziva had got the gist of the song, and it finished on a high. It was not perfect, but it was totally them.

At the end of the rehearsal, Cynthia pulled Ziva over to the side.

"You killed it out there tonight," she said sincerely, and Ziva smiled bashfully. Cynthia's next question threw her off.

"What do you say to playing Tracy?"

"What, for the actual thing?" Ziva said surprised. Now that was something that she was not expecting.

"Yeah, you know all the dance, and you can sing…"

Ziva let out a bark of laughter at the second part. Cynthia gave her a look and she covered her mouth, smiles still shining in her eyes in a combination of after practice buzz and amusement.

"I really think that you could do this," Cynthia said sincerely. This was strange for her, practically begging a student to take the lead role.

Ziva deliberated for a moment, before grinning and replying.

"OK."

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><p><strong><em>REVIEWS PLEASE! :) lovesss!<em>**


	23. Chapter 23

**_HELOOOOOO!_**  
><strong><em>So sorry for the late update. life has been crazy at the moment, so im thinking that updates are more likely to be once a week. that ok for you guys? :_**

**_also, im putting up a oneshot about the episode "A man walks into a bar", and i would love your opinion on it!_**

**_DISCLAIMER: disclaimed_**

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><p>Chapter 23- I have an excellent father. His strength is making me stronger<p>

Jenny and Gibbs were enjoying a quiet night in together at Jenny's house, a bottle of good bourbon between them to help them unwind after the tiring day. They were currently bitching about various teacher and pupils, as Gibbs prodded the fire into life, bring the room life and warmth. Jenny was contemplating the likelihood of her convincing Jethro that they should go see that romance movie that she had been dying to see forever. But there were some things that even she could not do. As Jethro poked the fire the muscles in his arms tensed and moved, as his armed manoeuvred the poker around fire. Jenny was overwhelmed with how physically attractive Jethro actually was. His piercing blue eyes, and them his body. Hmmm, speaking of things to do…

The doorbell rang and one look from Jenny told Gibbs that he was going to get the door. He shot Jenny a look as if to say "you lazy pig" as she sat there, sunk deeply into the overstuffed sofa, cradling her glass of bourbon in one hand, and all in all too comfortable to move. She had a hazy smile on her face that spoke of less than pure thoughts, and he sent her a look in response to say that he was more than willing and able to practise those extra-curricular activities.

Gibbs walked through the hallway, grabbing his wallet that he had left on the table next to the door and opening in the door for the takeout man. But he was surprised to see the last person that he expected at their door at that time of night, a deep gash in her right cheek.

"Ziva?"

Ziva sat in the couch, Jenny sat next to her sideways on. Jethro had gone in search of some frozen product of some sort and a first aid kit for Ziva's cheek. Meanwhile, Jenny was quizzing her about the events that had led Ziva to her door.

"What happened?"

Ziva sighed, knowing that she could not put of the reason she had come for much longer. She flashed back to earlier that evening…

_*1 hour earlier*_

"_Hey Becky! You are looking at the new lead role in the musical," Ziva called as she walked through the door, dumping her bags at the door and dropping her shoes off noisily on the mat. She knew that she was going to be getting a hard time from Becky for her behaviour. She was always going on about how kicking of her shoes so carelessly left great big mud stains up the walls. And how the shoes should be neatly places, so the house looked more like a house and less like a shack. But at that moment, Ziva did not care. _

"_Becky?" she said, slightly confused as to why Becky had not yelled at her back, or told her off for her actions yet (she was going to figure out where Becky hid that CCTV camera that seemed to detect everything that she had done wrong). Every day when she got back from school they had this conversation, normally yelled across several rooms, and occasionally several floors. _

_Ziva walked into the kitchen to find her and found out why Becky had not replied in her usual manner. _

"_Papa?" Ziva asked cautiously. His body language instantly told her that something was wrong. That combined with the fact that he was not at work and this time of the day. It was a rarity to see him before she went to bed, and he always left the house before she got up at 6 for her morning run. That added to the nervous looks that Becky was sending his way. This was a strange sight for the normally loud and brash Becky. _

_Wordlessly Eli threw the pieces of paper in his hands down onto the table between them. They slapped against the table, as it daring her to look at them with such audacity. They were photos. Piles of them. Photos of her and Tony outside his house last night. Photos of her and Tony together. Photos of her and Tony kissing._

"_Where did you get those from?" Ziva said slowly and carefully, not wishing to startle her father, as if he was some kind of wild beast that would rear its head at any moment. _

"_The officers that were assigned to you came back with them y-" he was cut off by Ziva. _

"_You had people follow me?" she said incredulous. Becky was shooting her looks that told her that her actions would never lead to anything good. But Ziva was so riled up, she did not take the friendly warning. She would regret that later…_

"_You are my daughter!" Eli said with and equally angry tone. _

"_You can't even trust your own flesh and blood?"  
>"Clearly I can't," he said, gesturing at the photos, not even looking at them, as if they disgusted him so much that he could not stand the sight of them. The sight of the house of David being thus polluted. <em>

"_So that gives you the right to invade my privacy and have men tell you about every move I make," Ziva yelled back, her voice raising as every word he said countered hers. _

"_You are my daughter! I have every right to do whatever the hell I want!" he replied, now moving closer to her, getting closer and closer with every word. _

"_You have no right!" Ziva said. And then it happened._

_Eli brought his hand up and sharply slapped her across the face. His ring caught the side of her cheek, and Ziva felt the skin tear under the sharp edge. And then there was silence. _

_For a moment time stood still. None of the occupants of the kitchen dared to even breathe as they waited for the others to respond. Then Ziva ran out, shocking the rest of the room. _

_Rebecca turned to Eli, her eyes storms. She wanted to spit at him, but she settled just for snarling at him and walking out of the room. _

_Eventually when Eli had overcome the shock of his actions the full weight of what he had done falling upon him. He sank down onto the conveniently placed chair, and leaned back, as if physically trying to keep the tears inside his eyelids. Then the voices in his head started, all saying the same thing. Rivka, Ari, Tali, all mirroring his own thoughts. _

"_What have you done?"_

*Present time*

Gibbs came back into the room, the first aid kit under his arm and a cherry ice lolly in his hand. Both Jenny and Ziva shot him strange looks. He grinned.

"Your reward if you sit still," he answered to the unasked question. Ziva raised her eyebrows at him unimpressed, to which he just grinned back at her.

"May I?" she asked motioning towards the first aid kit.

"Nope," Gibbs said and he sat himself down and began to unpack the kit on his lap. He ripped open a wipe and put his hand out to touch Ziva's cheek. Ziva moved backwards instinctively flinching, the innate automated response that had only somehow been activated this afternoon, the moving away before her father figure delivered another blow. When she realised what she had done she seemed embarrassed. She tilted her head down in shame, and she dreaded to think what Jenny and Gibbs thought. They probably thought that she was weak, and fearful.

She felt a gentle tugging at her chin, and she reluctantly drew her gaze from the patch of floor that she had suddenly found so interesting. She looked up at him, and Gibbs gave her a look. She could not understand it, but somehow she felt better, like he had some weird calming influence on her. Wordlessly she tipped her head back up to him, and he proceeded to attend to her wound quickly and efficiently.

"It won't even scar," he reassured her as he finished the dressing. He reached behind him and found the ice lolly that she had commented on earlier. Ziva rolled her eyes amused, but took the sugary treat anyway. Gibbs grinned wolfishly at her before collecting the wrappings and going off to deposit them in the bin.

Ziva turned to Jenny.

"I am sorry that I disturbed you. I did not think you would have company."

"I'm glad you did," Jenny replied, moving closer to her. Jenny was surprised when Ziva leaned closer and placed her head on Jenny's shoulder. Jenny had never noticed how short Ziva really was. Maybe it was the fact that she wore no shoes as she curled up on the sofa. Or maybe it was Ziva's confidence that made her seem larger than life. But now Jenny saw her for what she was, as Ziva sat her head against her shoulder, sucking slowly on her Mr Men ice lolly (where the hell did Jethro find that?).

"You want to talk about it?"

Ziva sighed. She had come to Jenny, so she of all people had the right to know what was going on in her head. And Jenny was one of the only people on the planet who she actually trusted. She pulled the lolly out of her mouth and spoke.

"Even after all these year I thought… that maybe…" Ziva started uncertainly. She was never very good at expressing herself. Words were not her strong point, and she found that she never quite able to express herself. And why would she have to? She had never had to explain anything before she killed. And actions did speak louder than words, no matter what language.

She sucked on her lolly for a few more moments, and Jenny waited patiently for her to form her next sentence.

"I have made excuses for my father my whole life. I just never thought he was capable of inflicting actual physical pain," she trailed off and Jenny brought her hand out to soothe her shoulder.

They sat there like that for a few moments, none of them noticing Gibbs who was standing at the door, before slipping off to rearrange his thoughts.

Gibbs lent against the side, his head buried firmly in his arms. So Eli David was the cause of this. Never had he ever wanted to go and kill a man so bad, not in a long time. Not since Shannon and Kelly. That bastard did not deserve to have a daughter like Ziva, full of fire and life. Having a child was an honour and a privilege that he himself had never had a chance to fully appreciate. And yet there were people like Eli David who saw it as a burden and a thing to be despised. He clearly did not deserve to have children.

He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he almost did not notice the figure slip into the room. Almost.

"I am sorry that I ruined your evening with Jenny," the figure said and Gibbs moved his head from his hands.

"Don't apologise," he added instinctively, like a knee-jerk reaction "it was not your fault," he added to soften the harsh quality of his statement.

They stood in silence, neither of them looking at the other, but both staring out of the window. The sun was setting on the horizon, and an explosion of purples and reds were dancing against the hills. It was so still and quiet, and Gibbs did not want to ruin it. But something had to be said.

"Is this the first time?" he said vaguely, but Ziva understood his meaning loud and clear.

"Yes," Ziva replied, and Gibbs let out an audible sigh of relief. He did not think he could live with himself if this had been going on for so long and he had not noticed. But luckily for both of them it was not the case.

The silence engulfed the room once more, as the two of them fought with their inner voices about what to say. That much they had in common, the inability to express themselves through words when there were so many alternative medians. Maybe that was why they seemed to get on so well with each other. Jenny and Jethro complimented each other in the way that lovers did, the opposites attracting, but their fiery passion uniting them in some strange and emotional way. But Ziva and Gibbs understood each other, their motives and morals. Like family. There was a difference.

"You had a daughter," Ziva stated. Gibbs remained silent. He had tensed up considerably, his knuckles growing as they pressed white against the skin. But he forced himself to relax, not wanting to scare Ziva as she had so easily a few moments ago. Ziva had already lost one father figure today. He would be damned if she lost two. But he was still angry and confused. How had she known that? But Ziva was not finished.

"That is why you are so angry. That is why you feel somehow responsible for all of this. That just because you could not help them, you fear you will not be able to help me."

"Anything else you want to tell me about myself?" Gibbs said, the words coming out harsher than he had meant them to. But Ziva seemed unfazed. She had never expected her spouting facts from his file would be something that he would be cool about. I mean, she would probably kill anyone who dared to make such a statement about her…

"You are angry at Eli. Therefore you are angry at the rest of the world. Do not let this cloud your judgement."

Gibbs would have denied it, but he knew that what she was saying was true. Her words were the only things that kept him from going over to that house and beating the crap out of Eli with his bare fists, before spitting on him and filling him with bullets. And then kicking him.

Ziva could see in his eyes that her words had registered. Satisfied that her words had done some good she left the room. But she stuck her head in for one final word.

"And Gibbs," she said. She waited until he had looked around from where he was facing to look at her.

"He is not worth it."

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><p><strong><em>Reviews please! :)<em>**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24- I guess you really did it this time…

"Hey Ziva! How are y- WOW."

Ziva grimaced at Abby's response to her outwards appearance. Despite Gibbs' promise that the wound would not even scar, her face was apparently taking its time to heal. She had not even attempted to cover it, with the fear of any make-up infecting the wound and making it any worse that it was already. But now she was regretting that move.

"What happened?" Abby asked.

"I had an unfortunate run in with a pair of hair straighteners," Ziva said overly brightly, even for someone who had run into a pair of hair straighteners. She was clearly hoping that her tone would cover up the fact that she was lying to her friend. She did feel some guilt about lying to Abby. But despite the fact that they were solid friends now, Ziva could not help but want to protect Abby. She did not want to tell Abby of the cruelty that was her father, in fear of tainting her innocence.

"I hate it when that happens!" Abby said empathetically and could see Ziva visibly relax at that sentence which ended that section of the conversation. Little did she know that it was anything but over…

Abby knew that Ziva was lying. First of all, who burned their _cheek _with straighteners? Neck or fingers, maybe, but not cheek. And then there was the fact that Abby knew her wounds. Being a budding forensic specialist and having finished all three of the Open University course on Forensic science by the age of 10, she could tell her cuts from her burns. And that was certainly not a burn. It was more likely to be a wound from a fight. Who would have been stupid enough to raise a hand against _her _friend?

Abby sent a quick glance in Ziva's direction, and seeing her bent to her locker Abby took the opportunity to shoot a text off to Timmy.

_What's up with Ziva? Xx_

She got a reply within moments.

_Don't know. Neither does Tony, but he is coming over. Xxx_

Abby raised her eyebrows. This was going to be interesting.

Tony felt eyes on him the moment he stepped through those rusted iron gates with spikes on the tops (yes. There really was spikes on top of the gates…) and into the Grammar. Not only was he most clearly a guy in a girls' school, but he was a good-looking guy in a girls school. Heads seemed to turn to check him out discreetly, the smaller year sevens more fascinated that it was an actual _boy_ rather that to admire him, the year 9s blatantly checking him out, and the older ones with a little more discretion looking him up and down. Normally, DiNozzo would be revelling in the attention and flirting with anything that breathed (teachers inclusive) in his usual brash and slightly obvious way. But he was more concerned about other matters. McGee had shown him the text that he had received from Abby (_Two kisses? Way to go McLovin'…_) and he had gone in search for Ziva straight away.

It was when he reached the school when he realised what a stupid thing he was doing. How did he expect to find Ziva? He had no idea of her timetable, and even though he had made regular trips to the girls' school (mostly for… extra-curricular activities) he had no idea where everything was. How on earth was he going to find Ziva?

To add to the ever growing list of problems with this scenario, the bell rang shrilly, and floods of students came flooding out of the doors, as if they had been standing behind the door and in wait. They flowed around Tony, all in their identical uniform, each trying to look individual, but all looking exactly the same. They drowned out everyone, the mindless ramble seeming to be joined to the next. There was no way he was going to find anyone he vaguely recognised.

Tony was debating whether asking year seven who had just past him if she knew Ziva (chances were pretty slim) he heard a familiar voice.

"Tony?"

Tony turned around, after shooting the rather scared looking year seven a charming glance. It scurried off, frightened and amazed at the same time.

"You are aware that that child is probably going to need therapy?"

Tony grinned but then caught sight of the scab on her cheek.

"What happened to you?"

"That is what a girl wishes to hear…" Ziva said pretending to look offended and looked away. Tony could tell that by the way she did not look him in the eye, there was something more.

"Hey," Tony said, trying to get her attention, stepping closer to her as he did so. Her eyes snapped back to him for a moment, as if she was startled back to him. He almost forgot what he was going to say. Almost.

"Hey, what happened," he said bringing his arms up and gently touching her cheek. She tried to shrug the attention off.

"It's nothing. So how are you doing?" she said, picking at the labels of his blazer.

"Woah, my ninja," Tony said, "no trying to bring the conversation back to me. This is about you."

"_This_ is nothing," Ziva said firmly. Tony raised his eyebrows at him.

"I just don't want to talk about it," Ziva said again. She was already feeling strange about sharing what she had with Gibbs and Jenny. She was not about to spew her guts to Tony.

Tony tilted her head up with his finger gently. He examined the cut intensely and Ziva tried to shy away from him. But he leaned his head closer and bumped his nose against hers playfully. This raised a smile from her.

"Do I matter to you?"

"Of course," Ziva answered without thinking. And then she winced.

"So you will tell me?"

She should have seen that one coming.

"I thought I was the one with the mind games?" Ziva said wryly.

"Please?"

Ziva sighed, the sound of defeat and music to Tony's ears.

"My father found out about us. He was not pleased."

Tony raised his eyebrows at her choice of blunt words. Her father? He knew his father was bad, but he would never do something like that…

"Your father did this?"

Ziva nodded. Now it was Tony's turn to close his eyes.

"Hey," no it was Ziva's turn to re-assure him, "I am alright."

Tony took a deep breath and calmed himself. He knew rationally that getting angry was not going to solve anything. But he could not help the thoughts that sprung to mind when someone hurt _his _Ziva.

"Who are you staying with?" he asked, the practical matters of the situation coming clear once he had seen through his anger.

"Jenny and Gibbs."

"Gibbs?"

"He would surprise you," Ziva said laughing.

"I hope so…" he said. The protectiveness he felt towards Ziva surprised them both.

"So do you need to go round to yours and get some stuff or something?" Tony asked. Ziva had not thought about the practical elements. She had just ran.

"I can drive myself. I brought my car," Ziva said.

"No I'm drivi- Wait, you have a car?"

"Ari," Ziva stated. Tony nodded in understanding.

"So after school I'll come find you and I will drive you," he said firmly.

"Tony there is really no ne-"

"No argueing."

Ziva glowered at him, but complied.

"Thank you," he said. Just then Jenny turned the corner to the hallway, as she patrolled the corridors on her way to teaching a lesson.

"DiNozzo, is there a reason for you being here?" she asked, sounding genuinely annoyed in her headmistress voice. Ziva still found it weird that this same woman was the one who had attempted to emotionally blackmail her into spilling her gossip. Now Jenny was the picture of professionalism, from her tone down to her immaculately pressed shirt.

"I am just going ma'am," he said, sending her a winning charming grin. He looked down at Ziva and leant down, touching his lips against hers softly. And then he was gone.

Ziva didn't realise that she had been standing still and touching her lips for a few moments. _Wow, she was acting like a teenager in love,_ she thought to herself wryly. _Hold on…_

Jenny raised her eyebrows at Ziva in a less than professional manner, for a split second showing that childish personality that she seemed to keep so well hidden at work. Ziva just rolled her eyes at her. She was not about to tell Jenny that she had been right from the beginning about there being a boy in her life. Ziva waved and walked to her next class.

oooOOOooo

At four thirty on the dot Ziva found Tony leaning against the bonnet of her car with a huge smug grin on his face. When he saw her, his grin seemed to grow even wider, making her roll her eyes at him. He walked over to her and captured her lips in her passionately. The move was unexpected, the blatant display of affection was something that Ziva was not used to. But when she let herself fall she found herself gaining even more enthusiasm, an audience be damned. Increasingly she grew unaware of the year sevens who were awkwardly trying to avoid their presence, but could not help but take a peek. She could no longer see the other girls giving her envious looks as she kissed him. All she seemed to be able to focus on was the feeling of his lips on hers. He pushed her with so much force, and she gave it back as good as she got. If she had seen herself in that moment, she would have blushed at the intensity of the kiss. And the fact she was doing it in front of her godmother's house.

Tony ran his fingers through her hair, using this as a tool to tilt her head to exactly where he wanted it to be. And she put up no resistance, if anything her movements against him fuelling him on even further. She found herself pressed up against him, and she did not know whose doing that was. Neither did she care. All she could think about right now was how good his lips felt against hers, and how hot he made her blood turn with every touch and move. She had had men before, but never had any of them ignited her body so much. Tony seemed to do that and more, and they had not done anything more than kiss. And she was looking forward to it all…

As they broke away he rested his head against hers, and suddenly Ziva felt a strange shyness come across her.

"Hi," she said. Tony grinned and screwed up his nose playfully.

"Hi yourself," he replied, "so you ready?"

Ziva nodded and pulled out her keys.

"I am driving," she said and Tony did not protest. That was something that he would live to regret…

_10 minutes later…_

"I said I was sorry," Ziva grumbled, as the both got out of the car.

"I'm sorry," he said sarcastically, "I must have missed it over the _blaring of car horns_!"

"It is not my fault that all you British people drive on the wrong side of the road," Ziva yelled back.

"There _is _no right side!"

"Well clearly the rest of Europe, and indeed _the world_ think so!"

When Tony did not say anything Ziva turned in surprised. Tony grinned at her.

"Is this our first fight," he asked, "and if so, does this mean we are entitled to hot make up sex?"

Ziva looked at him open mouthed for a moment.

"You pig!"

Tony just grinned at her. He was disgusting…

When they reached the front door the teasing seemed to disappear into the air. Ziva slipped the key into the lock and Tony leaned over to stop her opening it. She glanced up at him.

"Are you OK with this?" he asked and she just gave him an almost indiscernible nod. He lifted his hand up off hers and Ziva turned the key. The door clicked open, sounding slightly ominous as the two of them stepped into the house.

"I'll wait for you down here," Tony said and Ziva nodded. She was aware that this was Tony's way of giving her a little privacy, and she was grateful for it. She squeezed his hand gently and mounted the stairs.

Tony had been standing awkwardly at the bottom of the stairs for quite some time. He was about to go and find Ziva to annoy her when he heard the distinct jangle of keys in the lock and the door swinging open. He looked around, in search of a place to hide, but being somewhat unsuccessful. Then he came face to face with Eli David.

"What are you doing here" Eli said, after getting over his initial shock at some random stranger in his house.

"Being a friend to Ziva," Tony said icily. He was aware what this man had done to Ziva, so he wasn't going to play nice.

"Ziva is here?" Eli asked, seeming genuinely interested. What Tony did not know was that Eli regretted everything that had happened that night. Tony did not know that Eli would give anything to go back and do that night again. So of course Tony wanted to beat the crap out of him.

"She is. And then she is leaving."

"I am going to talk to her," Eli said, making to go to her room, but Tony blocked him off. They stood like that, torso to torso for quite some time. Despite being more than half his age, Tony's stance and resolve did not waver. He was taller than Eli, despite his immaturity, and his years of sports had made his bulkier and more muscular than the man who had taken to politics as a living.

The clock balanced on the mantelpiece ticked obnoxiously as the seconds went by without a word, and that is how Ziva found them when she returned.

"I have everything…" she started, not aware at first of her father's presence. "Abba?"

"Ziva, where are you going?" he said, his voice giving away none of his feelings or guilt.

"I am going to live with Jenny for a while. It is not permanent…" she started. Eli looked at her with an expression that she could not quite decipher.

"I think we need time, Abba. Apart, before something happens," Ziva said, and Eli got her loud and clear. She was going before she lost it and killed him. Or something similar to that.

Eli did not answer her verbally, but stood aside. Ziva nodded at him and she walked out of the open front door, not looking back. Tony however did look back. He gave Eli such a hard stare, perfected after years of living with his own father. It said you touch her again, you die. And Eli seemed to get the message loud and clear, nodding gravely. With that Tony slammed the door, and Eli was left alone once again, as if they had never been there.

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><p><strong><em> couldn't resist the little dig about British driving... ;)<em>**

**_Thank you for the reviews, as always! you have no idea how happy i was to see inbox (11) the other day :D_**

**_REVIEW ME PLEASE! :D_**


	25. Chapter 25

**_Hello my lovely readers!_**

**_this chapter is inspired by the strangely good British weather we have been having over here. its crazy! _**  
><strong><em>shout out to MegpieLovesTiva for guessing the song, which was in fact best day by taylor swift :)<em>**

**_DISCLAIMER: i dont own. :(_**

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><p><strong>Chapter 25- the sun shining over me and you…<strong>

"What is up with this weather dammit?" Abby said with great feeling, shaking her fists at the sky as the two of them reclined in the shade of a large tree on the unseasonably warm autumn day. Even though she was sufficiently shaded by the tree, she had a huge parasol to shade her delicate skin from the harsh rays of the Sun. She turned to Timmy, "and how can you look so relaxed about it?"

"Sun, blue skies, what's not to like?" he replied from his place on the ground, looking as relaxed as ever with his shirt off and his eyes shut, an expression on his that could only be described as pure bliss. Abby took a moment to admire his shirtless figure, before she realised he had asked a rhetorical question. So naturally, she felt obliged to answer it

"The sun. Burning in the Sun? The shirt less fat people!" she said answering his rhetorical question. Tim gave her an incredulous look, motioning down at his own half-clothed body.

"Not you silly! Stay shirt less for as long as you want!" she said, and Tim raised her eyebrows at him. Abby never really complained about much in life, she was one of those painfully optimistic "glass half full" girls. But this weather seemed to make her especially annoyed. Or was it something else?

"Is there a particular reason you're annoyed, other than the weather?" Tim asked.

"Well," Abby started, and Tim feared that he should have never asked, "I got an essay back yesterday. I did really badly in it, which was fine, but the teacher completely took apart my writing style and my language."

"I like your writing style!" Tim said, trying to make her feel better.

"Tim, you have never seen my writing!" Abby said, as if defeating the purpose of her reasoning. It was so sweet of him, kind of like a loyal St Bernard.

"Well I like everything about you, so why shouldn't I like your writing style!" Tim reasoned, and Abby looked away and smiled shyly. It was sweet of him to say that, and when he said things like that it brought unfamiliar feelings to the forefront of her mind. But could she really risk losing one of her best friends if they did not work out? But seeing him lying there shirtless, with all those sweet words, made her forget her thoughts. He had that effect on her.

"Anyways..." She said, as an awkward silence descended on the two of them, like neither of them knew how to respond to the attraction they felt to each other, "do you know when Tiva are arriving?"

"Tiva?" Tim said confused at the weird change in conversation.

"Tony and Ziva!" she said, as if Tim was the silly one.

Tim rolled his eyes but said nothing more on the matter of this "Tiva".

"Tony said they will be a bit late."

"So they are not referring to each other collectively?"

Tim gave her a weird look.

"You said that he said that "they" were going to be late. Keep up Timmy!"

If it had been anyone else he would have argued with that statement. But this was Abby. And she was different. And that was why he loved h- wow! He had definitely been out in the sun for too long...

He was saved from any kind of embarrassment when "Tiva" as Abby called them turned up.

"Woah!" Abby said, "you look so pretty!"

Tim looked up, hoping that she was not referring to Tony when she said that (this was Abby, after all...). When he looked up she understood what Abby was talking about.

Ziva was wearing a pure white dress, scrunched and ruffled at the top, but flowing and with a tone of lace through it. The colour contrasted with her tan skin beautifully, her tan standing out even more and the white looking even purer and angelic. The tight top did nothing but accent her chest, making her look even curvier, showing off her lean and toned body. Stunning, but not really Ziva...

"Jenny attacked me before I got out the house. Apparently it was warm and she no longer wanted the dress. And what I was wearing was not appropriate," Ziva explained.

"Sweet-cheeks, you were wearing a long sleeve shirt and trousers," Tony pointed out. Ziva glared at him, but secretly, she had enjoyed the attention that Jenny gave her with regard of clothes. She had not been old enough when she was alive to have that kind of relationship with her. Jenny seemed to unconsciously fill that void in her life that was in her life. And Ziva did not seem to mind at all. In fact it was quite the opposite…

"You two came together?" Tim asked, his tone suggestive. Tony glared at him. And did not answer him. Ziva saw this glare and placed her hand in his, and this move seemed to ground him, and make him less look less annoyed. He looked down at her smiling, the previous glare no-where to be seen. He squeezed her hand back lightly and Tim raised an eyebrow.

"Is there something you aren't telling us?"

"Well yeah, McIdiot, now you mention it Ziva isn't living at home anymore because of her jackass of a father," Tony answered, getting all protective about Ziva when he thought that Tim was attacking her verbally. Ziva looked away for that moment, uncomfortable, both at the choice in subject, and Tony's desire to protect her. She would have insisted that she did not need the protectiveness, but secretly she liked the idea of Tony get all angry just because he thought someone was going to hurt her.

There was a moment of silence, which Abby felt obliged to break.

"So is that why the two of you are together?" Abby asked casually. Ziva and Tony looked surprised at her.

"You honestly think we wouldn't notice," she said in the same tone she used when telling Tim off.

Ziva looked at Tony, and they had a lengthy silent conversation before she turned to Abby and McGee.

"Tony and I are seeing each other," she had to pause while Abby let out a squeal of excitement. Tim only sighed and reached for his wallet, and passed a tenner over to Abby.

"We had a bet going on about how long it would take you to get together already," he said as an explanation.

"You had bets going on us?' Tony asked, still sounding slightly annoyed.

"More importantly, who is we and do we get a share of this money," Ziva said, completing Tony's sentence, and Abby took a moment to get over the cuteness of the situation.

"I'll give it to you when we get all of it in."

"All of it?" Ziva asked, the unsaid part of the sentence stating that there had been a LOT of money and people betting on their relationship status.

"Let's just say that this bet extends between both of the schools, and a few other people" Timmy said smirking. Tony raised his eyebrows.

"We better get half the money…" Tony grumbled.

They unpacked the food and drink on the cloth that Abby had lay down on the ground for their chilled picnic meal. Abby had been shocked and horrified that Ziva had never had a picnic in her life before, so when the weather was right she had made to rectify the situation.

As they settled down Ziva decided to start the conversation off.

"So, speaking of dating, have you finally told Abby that you are in love with her and have been forever," Ziva said casually, popping the lid of one of the cans of beer with her knife. McGee spewed the contents of his mouth. Unfortunately, his mouth was full of beer. Even more unfortunately, Tony was in his line of fire.  
>"Dude! What the hell!" Tony said angrily, stripping his shirt off quickly before the sticky substance could reach his skin. And judging by Ziva's expression, she didn't seem to mind.<p>

Tim however did seem to mind Ziva's questioning.  
>"I don't know what you're talking about," Tim denied quickly, shooting a sideways glance at Abby to see if she had anything to say about the matter.<p>

"You two aren't going to be like that couple who are together so think that everyone else should be in a relationship?" Abby said.

"I was just asking," Ziva was quick to correct her, "if Timothy had done anything about the crush he has been nurturing for quite some time. But anyway," she stood up, "I saw a water fountain over there Tony. We can get you cleaned up." she winked at him as she got up, implying that as they got cleaned up, they would be getting a hell of a lot more dirty. Tony saw this underlying message, and stood up with more enthusiasm than he should have.

Tim and Abby sat by themselves for a few moments, the awkward silence enough to satisfy several turtles and their babies. Tim was picking at the grass nervously, and Abby was staring at him. The way that the sun caught his hair, making it look like his chiselled jaw and his face were surrounded by a pool of light. That was one of the combining factors that made Abby decide to do something.

"So," she said. He turned to look at her, "what are you waiting for?"

Tim's face broke into a grin, as she gave him her weird version of admitting her feelings. But this was Abby, the girl who had him stuck and smitten since back in his chubby probie days. Weird did not cover the way she was, and he used the term with as much endearment that he was able to cram into the one word. And yet there was nothing that she could do or say to make his feelings for her change. And he would not change it for the world.

He reached over and cupped the back of her head with his hand. But instead of doing what she thought he would and kissing her cheek, he went straight in there for the lips.

Abby was surprised at his dominance, as he gently lowered her to the ground, with each movement bringing her closer and closer until she felt the grass underneath her back. But he did not stop there. He pushed his mouth hungrily against hers, not afraid to use the position of his hand on her neck to tilt her to exactly where he wanted her. This was strange, her weird but dorky McGee being all manly and powerful, and making her all hot. And it was nothing to do with the weather. She moved her hands to caress his arm muscles as they tensed with the contact. Tim released her lips, but kissed his way down one cheek to her neck. Abby tilted her neck in a silent plea for his to get closer and he obliged, kissing his way up and down her neck.

Both of them stopped to catch their breath, Abby caressing his locks gently and Tim breathing into her neck. His hot breath seemed to do anything but calm Abby's racing heart, yet he seemed to be unaware of the effect that he was having on her.

Suddenly, he had the overwhelming urge to laugh, and despite his best efforts a few chuckles fought their way through his mouth, and Abby pulled her head back to look at him questioningly.

"You have no idea," Tim started, bringing his forehead to rest against hers, "how long I have been waiting to do that. And how much I have dreamed of doing that."  
>"And did it live up to your expectations?" Abby asked cheekily. It was strange for both of them, the weird balance they had found between the passion, but also their laughter. They were the same people, but Tim's boldness made her see him on a completely new level. It was weird and exciting.<p>

"I don't know," Tim said jokily, pretending to think, "maybe I should try one more time, just to be certain."

He reached down to capture her lips in his again, and this time Abby did not hesitate to reciprocate his touch.

Some distance away from the pair, next to the water cooler Ziva stood dunking Tony's T-shirt into the water, then wringing it, and them repeating the process in attempt to remove the strange stain that seemed to look less like beer and more like a strange unknown but should be avoided substance.

"You told Abby and McGee," she started, not looking him in the eye. Tony cursed himself.

"Shit, did you not want to tell them?" he had not really thought about it. But that was very him. Not thinking before he acted. Stupid _stupid _him.

Whilst Tony was internally beating himself up, Ziva spoke.

"No," Ziva said, laughing slightly, but it ended up sounding more sad than humorous, "I would have just appreciated some notice, that is all."

Tony would have face palmed had it not been for the fact she was looking right at him.

"Ziva, I-"

"You should not apologise. Especially," she turned to him, "if there is nothing to be sorry for." She said it with a smile in her voice, and Tony was so grateful for her ability to forgive. It would have been so easy for someone to be bitter and harsh, with all that Ziva had been through. But somehow, she managed to be one of the most happy dispositions that he knew, and her sense for humour rivalled even the best of them.

"So what is my punishment," Tony said, detecting that she was joking, and that he was out of the woods. For now.

"Well," she started, looking up at him from underneath her eyelashes, "I will start by confiscating this shirt…" she said, pulling it behind her back, "and I will think of the rest of your punishment later," she said. It was amazing how dirty she managed to make the word "later" seem. But this was his Ziva. And he was going to go along with whatever plan she may have.

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><p><strong><em>new review button! (sorry. i little slow on the uptake here.) click it and leave your lovehate? ;D_**


	26. Chapter 26

**_EEEKKKKKKKKKKKK! 202 REVIEWS! AHHHHHH!_**  
><strong><em>YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!<em>**

**_thank you so much, you guys are awesome and i am so happy that people are taking an interest in my work!  
>I'm sorry that this chapter is a little short... but I wanted to write something to thank you guys for the support.<em>**

**_this is dedicated to anyone who was suffering from TIVA withdrawal symptoms...  
>the song from last chapter was noah and the whale 5 years time :D<em>**

**_DISCLAIMER: all characters owned my someone who is not me :((_**

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><p>Chapter 26- Fast lives, stuck in the undertow…<p>

The days rolled on and the weather changed, from the beautiful crunchy autumn leaves to the slightly soggy autumn leaves to the freezing dead leaves until the leaves all finally disappeared. In those coming days they looked back on that picnic in the Sun with envy, as they stared out at their current landscape covered in a thick blanket of white snow. But the relationship status between Tony and Ziva was pretty much the same through all that time, much to delight of their friends. However, a certain Israeli ninja was enjoying the current weather, for other reasons…

"Tony, we really do need to finish this!" she said, mock scolding him as he got distracted from the page of Biology textbook that sat in front of them and Ziva was trying to teach him about. Again. They were supposed to be having a tutor session, with Ziva's theory being that the more they revised now, the less they would have to cram before the end of year exams came about. She was working even harder to try and get Tony to earn his scholarship. That on top of university applications and BMAT and UCAS and every single acronym that seemed to exist. And yet Tony seemed to not be able to grasp the urgency of the situation.

"But I think I found a better thing to do," he whined into her neck, as he nuzzled against it. Ziva could not help but react to the feeling of his mouth against her neck, her body flushing as his hot breath teased her neck. His breath against her neck combined with the fact she was practically sitting on him did nothing but increase the rate of blood to certain parts of her anatomy. Like her cheeks. However Tony's blood all seemed to be rushing to a different place, a place that was a lot less innocent.

"I hope that is your knee…" she threatened half joking. From Tony's guilty expression her suspicions were correct.

"You have been sitting on me, squirming and talking to me. I'm only human!" he said.

"So," Ziva said, her voice dropping as she turned to him. Tony's mind instantly picked up the change in tone that had happened, and he smiled, "is it just me, or something about the topic we are studying? Or something about your teacher?" she grinned wickedly. Tony's lack of answer gave her an answer. She was the hottest teacher he had ever had the pleasure of being acquainted with.

"Wow!" she said, in staged surprise, then she turned and smiled at him, and he could see the idea forming in her head, "I had no idea that Fornell had this effect on you!"  
>If Tony had been standing, he would have doubled over. Instead he sat gaping at her for a moment, trying to stop himself gagging at that image she had unwittingly put in his head.<p>

"You play dirty, Ziva," he scolded. She grinned.

"It's so much more fun this way," she said with a wink. She turned back to the book in front of them. But Tony's mind was long gone. How did she expect him to concentrate with that image of her and the word "dirty" in his mind? She was going to be the death of him…

Ziva sighed in mock exasperation after the third time she caught Tony staring down her top instead of looking at the textbook. Anything that she had said seemed to go in one ear and come out the other. Just to prove her point, she had been talking about what McGee and Abby's hypothetical babies would look like, and he had not noticed.

"Fine! You win. We will resume in ten minutes," Ziva said, and Tony grinned with great enthusiasm. He took the textbook from her hands, and put it on the table. He then pulled her to face her into his lap.

"So…" he said, his voice dropping an octave as he nuzzled her ear, "have you got any ideas to pass the time?"

"Well," Ziva said, pretending to think for a moment. However she soon became distracted when Tony pulled her ear with his teeth gently, before kissing the shell of her ear. She burst out laughing, a tuneful cute melody and Tony drew away confused.

"Our ninja is ticklish?"

"I am no-" Ziva started saying, but she was cut off when Tony went for her ear again. She squirmed away from him, but Tony flipped her so they landed gently on the floor. He trapped her body against the ground and proceeded to tickle her all over.

"TONYYYY! Stop it!" she protested loudly. She was making so much noise that neither of them noticed the front door opening and someone walking in.

"Tony I'm ho-, oh, hello there," DiNozzo Senior said as he caught sight of the two of them on the floor. To him, the position looked a lot less innocent than it actually was. So when he saw Tony lying in between Ziva's legs, her neck bent back and her hands in his hair as she tried to move his deadly mouth away, he automatically jumped to the wrong conclusion. He was a DiNozzo after all.

"I will leave you young things to it…" he said, backing out of the room, the suggestive tone in his voice clearly stating what he thought he saw.

They lay there for a few moments, neither of them moving. Ziva had buried her face in the crook of Tony's shoulder, covering her face in embarrassment.

Tony surprisingly spoke up.

"That was not the way I hoped you would meet my father. Are you coming to redo those introductions?" he said standing up and offering her a hand. She took it hesitantly and he pulled her up to standing.

"You want me to meet your father?" Ziva said. Meeting the family was something she rarely did in relationships, sometimes due to the fact she knew the family as her father had set up the relationship, or it was a cover relationship, or it was just a fling. This was totally new for her. Little did she know, this was totally new for Tony as well.

Tony knew the implications of what he was asking. He was telling her that she was different. Normally, his father never met the person he was dating. But this was Ziva. And she was different.

"You are an important part of my life. The sooner my father knows you are more than a one night stand, and I intend to keep you, the better," he said sincerely, and Ziva smiled shyly. They stood there, staring at each other, searching the other for an answer.

"So," Ziva said, breaking into a grin, "What are we waiting for."

Anthony DiNozzo Senior was hanging up his heavy winter coat on the rack in the kitchen. He flicked on the kettle and stood waiting for it to perform its duties. He saw out of the corner of his eye Tony and the girl approaching.

"Do either of you want anything?" he asked, more out of politeness than his desire to help either of them. Tony shook his head, and the other girl smiled and declined verbally. Senior had the first chance to look at her properly. She was extremely attractive. So Junior was just a chip of the old block after all, not a complete and utter failure.

"Dad, this is Ziva, Ziva this is my dad," Tony said, a little too formally to sound relaxed.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Senior said, and Ziva caught a glimpse of that charming grin that Tony had clearly inherited. He took the hand that she had put out to shake his and placed a kiss on her knuckles. His eyes danced with humour, just as Ziva had seen Tony's do so often.

"Are you certain you do not want anything?" Senior asked.

"If you insist, I will have a green tea that Tony seems to like so much," Ziva said amusedly. And the kettle popped, and after having made the drinks they settled into conversation at the table.

Tony was jealous. Of his own father. He sat there silently fuming as Senior flirted with Ziva blatantly, despite Ziva trying to halt his efforts. However his father only saw this as a challenge, and proceeded to flirt even more. Tony was so close to leaning over and punching his father in the face, the fact that they were related was completely irrelevant.

Ziva seemed to sense his anger, and without breaking eye contact with his father, reached over and found his hand. She gave it a reassuring squeeze and leaned closer into his body. She became tucked neatly into his side, and his world seemed to be less red hazed than it was a few moments ago. It was amazing the power that she had to ground him, and to make him generally a better person. Now he watched to conversation in new light. He knew that no matter how hard his father flirted, it was him that she wanted…

oooOOOooo

Ziva was about ready to tear her hair out. They had been rehearsing the song through, and despite the fact that she had never sung it before she was doing well. Until Tony started singing the harmony.

"You're getting there," Cynthia tried to convince her after they stopped again because Ziva had started singing the harmony part with Tony as appose to singing the tune, "it will come with practise."

Ziva was still annoyed. In the least cocky way possible, she had mastered everything that she had been taught at a young age due to a combination of her stubborn attitude, her pushy father, and her desire to be better than her older brother. She could throw knives before some children learnt their alphabet. She could dance like a professional amongst people twice her age. But singing was something that she had never done before. She was now going to learn what it was like to learn something from scratch. And she hated every minute of it. She was starting to have more sympathy for the students she had at Mossad, and she made a mental reminder to not be so harsh on them when they screwed up. She seemed to be doing so much of that today.

They had tried to get her to sing on her own. They had tried to get her to sing the harmony and Tony to sing the tune. They had tried to give her earplugs (but she just got confused and the timings went down the drain). She was this close to freaking out.

"OK, two minute break and then back to it," Cynthia said once they had stopped. Ziva asked for permission to fill up her water bottle and when excused she opened the door. One look from Cynthia told Tony that he was going after her. He had no choice in the matter. Cynthia did not want a disheartened half of her leading couple.

Tony found her leaned over the fountain, pressing the handle for water with much more vigour than normal. He came up behind her.

"What's bothering you?" Tony asked. Ziva turned around, submitting herself to the fact that her chance to clear her thoughts alone was no longer an option.

"I am fine," she said, "just a little irritated with myself."  
>"That makes only one of us," Tony said. Ziva looked up in surprise. She expected him to be annoyed. He had just spent half an hour singing the exact same part of the exact same song over and over again, with her walking into every metaphorical singing wall that existed. She would expect him to be a little annoyed.<p>

"Even crazy ninja chicks find some things difficult. But that doesn't mean that you should give up."

"I'm not giving up!" Ziva argued, and Tony was glad to see a little fire back in her eyes, as oppose to the earlier defeat.

"Come and prove it to me," Tony said, taking her hand and leading her back to the room.

Cynthia saw the pair drop their joint hands before they entered the room. She smiled to herself. These two were ever the professionals, keeping their true feelings outside the stage. But there was an element of truthfulness in the way they played their characters, and they clearly got on as people. Ahh… young love…

"OK, let's got from the top…" Cynthia said, banishing those soppy thought for another time.

Ziva took a deep breath. If Jeanne Benoit was able to master this song before she stormed out, Ziva was going to do the same. Sure, Jeanne had years of vocal lessons and had probably had pushy parents who wanted her to go into show business, but anything she could do, Ziva could and would do better.

Fifteen minutes and a few songs later the part was coming up, Ziva took a breath and locked everything other than the piano and her own voice out. She closed her eyes and sung. When Tony came in she tried not to get sidetracked. She was focussing so hard, she did not seem to notice the words and the right notes were coming out at the right place at the right time. When they hit the final note and the piano stopped Ziva looked up in surprise. She had done it. Tony turned to her and grinned crazily at her, and enveloped her into a hug.

"You did it!" he said, and Ziva grinned back, a little shyly. So this was what it felt like to be loved?

"Well done Ziva!" Cynthia said, folding up the music, satisfied they had done enough for that day. Ziva grinned back, the feeling of pride and happiness spreading through her. Yes, she definitely liked this feeling.

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><p><strong><em>please hit that shiny new review button and leave your comments! :D<em>**


	27. Chapter 27

**_hello! :D_**

**_this chapter just kind of came to me. i had no idea what I was going to write about about, until I sat down with my computer and started typing. twas fun :D_**

**_thank you for the reviews for the last chapter! I am glad you liked the DiNozzo Senior and Ziva scene!_**

**_DISCLAIMER: not mine._**

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><p><em>Chapter 27- we'll scream loud at the top of our lungs, and they'll think it's just 'cause we're young. But we'll feel so alive<em>

"I'm home!" Ziva said. She would have never have pictured herself in this situation. If someone had told her before she had left Israel that by December she would have moved in with her godmother who she hadn't seen in years she would have laughed in their faces. And then probably punched them for taking the Mickey out of her. But now there she was. And that was not even mentioning the strange bunch of people she now called her friends. But life seemed to be different now. Good different, but different all the same.

She walked into the kitchen where she found Gibbs. At this she had to smile. Despite Jenny's denial, the two of them had been getting on a little too well for "just co-workers". It was only when Gibbs had been caught by Ziva on his way back from the bathroom robed in a white towel (and nothing else. Who knew someone so old could have so much muscle…) that Jenny was forced to admit that she was seeing Gibbs (or Jethro, as she tended to call him these days). Ziva had smiled in triumph, as it had been quite some time since she had seen Jenny this happy. She had not seen a man in Jenny's life ever since she had arrived in the country. But Gibbs had changed it all for the better.

Ziva walked into the kitchen to find said man looking deep in thought.

"A pound for your thoughts?" she asked. Gibbs grinned at her.

"Penny," he corrected, and she rolled her eyes childishly at him, "I was actually contemplating about cooking something."  
>"Gosh, it is a good thing I found you," Ziva said, shuddering at the memory of the last time that Gibbs had attempted to cook.<p>

*Flashback*

Ziva was sitting at her desk in her room. Jenny had insisted that Ziva take a room, even though Ziva did not plan in staying for long. Jenny had looked at her as if she was ridiculous when Ziva said she would crash on the couch, what with the huge headmistress's house being mostly empty. Now, despite Ziva's best efforts not to become too attached, the room was slowly beginning to feel like it was hers. The maid, under strict instructions from Jenny had put all of Ziva's clothes in the built in wardrobe of the room. She had never meant to unpack, but when she got home that day it appeared that she did not have a choice in the mater. She had not brought it up over dinner that night. But she had given Jenny a look, and Jenny knew that Ziva understood the significance of the subtle change. That whether she resisted or not, she was going to be with Jenny for a long time.

Ziva was buzzed out of her thoughts by a message from Tony. She had never got around to changing her ringtone or her message tone. So when "I'm sexy and I know it" blasted out of her phone she thought nothing of it.

_Studying chemistry and thought of you xx_

Ziva smiled at this. It had not been the first time that Tony had randomly texted her to tell her that he was thinking of her right at that moment. And it was definitely not the first time that she had done the same for him.

She was about to reply when she stopped for a moment. She sniffed the air, sensing that something was up. She recognised that smell. Like something was burning…

Ziva threw her phone onto her bed and sprinted down the stairs. She got to the kitchen, the source of the smell when she stopped. And stared.

In front of her was an image that was going to be engraved in her memory for the rest of her life. Gibbs stood there, apron that clearly did not belong to him (unless the saying "I don't cook, I'm ginger" applied to him…) with a look of sheer terror on his face. And then to add to the strange image and make it even stranger still, the fire alarm went off.

"Ziva! A hand please," yelled the normally unflappable Leroy Jethro Gibbs, his face contorted in panic. Ziva walked into the crime scene quickly after getting over her shock. She quickly and efficiently accessed the damage. She never thought that her Mossad skills would be useful in situations like this…

The door of the oven was billowing with black smoke from what appeared to be a casserole dish in a past life. Now, it looked like a black smouldering boulder.

"What did you do?" Ziva said, in awe of how he managed to achieve a feat that she had never known to be possible. She had always thought that casserole dishes were designed to be safe for use in an oven. Clearly she had been mistaken.

"Does it really matter right now?" Gibbs yelled, trying to make himself over the sound of the fire alarm squealing in protest after being disturbed.

Ziva would have found this situation deadly funny, had she not been too busy fearing for her life.

"Open the back door!" she instructed. Gibbs gave her a weird look.

"Just do it!" she yelled.

Without a word he fumbled for the keys to the door. Ziva grabbed a pair of oven gloves from the hook next to the over and fanned to smoke away trying to see through the clouds and find what was causing the smell. And get it out of the house. She blindly groped in the dark for a moment, before grabbing hold of the dish. She pulled it out of its confines and ran.

"Coming through!" she yelled, and Gibbs had just enough time to flatten himself against the wall when she through the offending piece of crockery out of the door.

Gibbs raised his eyebrows, but apparently snow was good for putting out the fire. The two of them stood there stood there for a moment, their breaths taking time to return to normal after that panic. Right at that moment, Jenny chose to return from her trip to the supermarket.

"I'm home! Hello?" she said, walking through the house until she found Ziva and Gibbs staring out at the remnants of casserole dish.

"Would someone care to explain?" she said sternly putting on her best head teacher stare and directing it at the two of them. Ziva turned to Gibbs, with a pretty much identical look on her face.

_Uh oh…_ Gibbs thought to himself sheepishly. This was not going to end well…

*end of flashback*

"There is a reason why someone invented cereal…" Gibbs grumbled to himself and Ziva grinned.

"Don't bother making anything. I have some friends over for a sleepover, and I am ordering pizza. Would you like some?"  
>"Sleepover?" Gibbs asked, ignoring her question in favour of his own.<p>

"Jenny's idea," Ziva explained, "I told her that I could not possibly impose a night of teenage girls who will probably not sleep on her. But she insisted, she even threatened to invite them over herself."  
>"And I would have, if you had not agreed," Jenny said, walking into the conversation. She walked up to Gibbs and looped her arms around his waist, and he brought his hand to rest on her shoulder.<p>

"Well, if that lot are going to be taking over the house, maybe I'll take you out for dinner?" Gibbs suggested. Jenny smiled, having known all along that this would happen.

"What about dessert?" she asked, looking up at him smirking. Gibbs sent her a half smirk in response.

"I'm sure something can be arranged," he said, burying his head in her neck. Jenny laughed and tried to get away as his hot breath tickled her neck.

"Hold on, you are not staying?" Ziva said.

"You are 18, Ziva," Gibbs said deadpan, and Ziva looked at him.

"You would trust any 18 year old to look after the house?"  
>"Nope," he said, "just you."<p>

Ziva smiled to herself, and spun on her heal to go up and get ready.

"And Ziva," Jenny called. Ziva turned around, "no boys!"

oooOOOooo

Ziva David had never had a sleepover before. Unless you count going to fend for herself for 3 nights in the desert. Which you don't. She self-concisely checked that everything was in place, when as if on cue the door bell rang.

"ZIVA!"

Ziva almost fell over with the sheer force of the tackle hug that Abby had just given her.

"Hey," Sarah said from behind her, her greeting less exuberant, but still as happy and enthusiastic.

"Are Michelle and Jardine here yet?"

"No. They are not here yet," Ziva said, "please, come in."

Abby and Sarah stared in awe at the house. They had passed it every day on their way to school, but neither of them had ever say foot inside it. It was an eternal mystery that had been with them since year seven, when Hannah had sworn she saw a dead body through the headmistress' bathroom window from the Latin classroom. The building was surrounded with so many questions that had no answers. Until now.

"Where is Ms Sheppard?" Sarah asked.

"She is staying with Gibbs tonight," Ziva said.

"Wait," Abby said, spinning around, "she let you have friends over, and she is not here to supervise!"

"Umm… yes," Ziva said cautiously. Abby grinned widely back at her.

"She is totally awesome! Abby said.

They settled into the living room where a number of blankets and duvets were set out. Abby was unpacking the bags and bags of food that she had felt obliged to bring when the doorbell rang again.

"Ziva walked over to the front door to get it.

"Hey Michelle, Jardine," she said, and stepped aside. Let the party begin.

The sleepover was in full swing when Ziva's phone rang. The whole of the room went silent when "I'm sexy and I know it" began to play loudly from her phone.

"What?" she asked, directing the question at their amused expressions, before moving to pick it up.

""Hello?"

"Ziva," the voice from the other side of the phone said.

"Tony!" Ziva said brightly, and she grinned to herself. And then she caught sight of Abby giving her one of those looks. The one that said that she found her and her current relationship status incredibly adorable. Ziva rolled her eyes and walked out the room.

"What already ditching us for your man! What happened to sisters before misters," Abby yelled at Ziva's receding figure, pretending to be offended. Ziva stuck her head around the door and stuck her tongue out before going back to her conversation.

"Sorry, about that," Ziva said.

"You have Abby around?"  
>"Yes. In fact a few of us are having a sleepover," Ziva said.<br>"Really," he said, his voice telling her that she was thinking less than innocent thoughts, "any pillow fights in your underwear?"  
>"No," Ziva replied, and grinned childishly, then her voice dropped an octave, "at least, not yet."<br>Tony made a noise that sounded like a low hum, and Ziva knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Mind out the drain pipe, DiNozzo."

"Gutter."

"What has that got to do with anything?" Ziva said confused.

"It's keep your mind out of the gutter," Tony explained and Ziva made a noise in understanding.

"I really should get back, before Abby finds Jenny's bourbon…" Ziva said. Saying their goodbyes Ziva heard the click of the phone as he hung up. She stood there for a moment, a huge grin plastered over her face that seemed to make an appearance every time that she talked to Tony, or thought about him. She shook herself out of it, and went back to the living room.

"So," she said, addressing the girls, "what is this game you were talking about?"

oooOOOooo

"Don't think about it," Jethro said to Jenny, reading her mind like he was so apt at doing these days. They were sitting at a table at some Italian restaurant, and Jenny had looked distracted since they had sat down.

"Don't do what?" Jenny said, trying to play it innocent. And failing.

"Ring Ziva and check that the house is still standing."

Jenny did not even bother denying it.

"You told her that you trusted her. She's a smart girl, who won't do anything stupid," Jethro elaborated. Jenny sighed and slumped back into her seat.

"Why do you make me look like the bad parent?" Jenny asked. It was true, Jethro and Jenny were like the parents Ziva never had. But Jenny always felt like she was the one who had to enforce discipline, while he got the fun job of being the fun parent. That was not to say that Jethro did nothing. He almost went after DiNozzo with his sniper rifle when he found out that he was dating Ziva. But after persuasion from Ziva and Jenny, he put the gun away, but kept the menacing glare that spoke of the things that he would do to DiNozzo if he even thought about breaking her heart.

"Hey Jen," Gibbs said, trying to get her attention by taking her hand in his, "you are the only real parent that that kid has ever had. And she loves you."  
>Jen smiled, trying hard to believe it. But every time she thought of what she had done for Ziva, she thought of everything that she had not done. Maybe she could have got Ziva out of the clasp of Eli David sooner. But she had not, and now Ziva was emotionally and physically scarred. And she was only 18 years old. Her life was full of guilt and "what ifs".<p>

Gibbs could see the doubt in Jenny's eyes.

"You can't change that past," he said his voice dropping so low and husky that she felt lulled and relaxed by him already, "but you can do what is best for Ziva now. That is all that matters."

"You were a good father," Jenny said, changing the subject seemingly abruptly. Gibbs knew the she was referring to Kelly, "and you still are a good father."

This made Gibbs smile bashfully and Jenny was overwhelmed with the love that she felt for this amazing, humble generous man.

"I love you," she said. Her eyes widened as she realised what she had just said. She tried to pull her hand from under his, put he stopped her.

"Say it again," Jethro said, praying that he had heard correctly.

"I love you," Jenny said, this time a little more hesitantly. Jethro's grin grew even more. He leaned over to her.

"I love you," he said, placing a kiss on her neck, "I love you," he kissed her cheek, "I love you," he kissed her other cheek. He leaned back and surveyed her. Her cheeks were tinted with a pink blush from the attention he had been giving her and she stared at him in the eyes.

"I love you," and the final kiss fell on her soft, rose pink lips…

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><p><strong><em>n'awwwww :P<em>**

**_ reviews are much loved, and i would love to know what you guys want to happen in the next few chapters. would a christmas chapter be too unseasonal? _**


	28. Chapter 28

**_Hello lovely people!_**  
><strong><em>Just a little forewarning, I have included EJ in this chapter, and what I have seen in your stories, everyone seems to love to hate her. However, I have only really seen her in 1 episode, but i need her character, so forgive me if it is a little OOC...<em>**

**_also, *shameless plug* I uploaded a story based on the episode "A Man Walks into a Bar" about what would happen if ZIva and Kate's sister talked about Ari. I would REALLY love you reviews! :D_**

**_anyways, leave your lovely (or not so lovely. I am not fussed) reviews! and i hope this chapter has been worth the wait! :)_**

**_Disclaimer: i STILL don't own. :(_**

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><p>Chapter 28- You never see the end when you're young, in love, pretending.<p>

Ziva was freezing. More accurately she was standing outside on the newly thawed out netball courts well into the month of December, huddled in her oversized school hoodie, as her team threw a ball around on the other side of the pitch. Earlier on in that lesson, Ziva had been optimistic about this new game. She had surprised herself with her lacrosse skills; maybe this sport would also take her fancy. However, by just thinking this she had tempted the fates. Not a good idea.

If she had found lacrosse confusing, netball was insanely difficult to follow in comparison. What did they mean that she couldn't move with the ball? Where was the logic in that? It was like the stupid people version of basketball. And then there were the thirds, and each person was only allowed in certain ones, and if they stepped even a little over the line they were offside. Wasn't offside that rule in football where you couldn't be behind the ball? Then there were all the other words and phrases that had gone over her head. I mean, second stage marking. And zoning? Really?

Her team saw her struggle, and made the executive decision that for the safety of her and the rest of the team they would put her as goalkeeper. That way, she could limit her path of destruction to only third. Or that was the thinking.

Now, Ziva found herself standing next to a girl who she had not talked to before in the months where she had been at the school. She looking like every cliché in the book, tall and pretty, her straight blonde hair pulled back into a perfect high pony-tail, highlighting the planes and angles of her face.

"Are you new around here?" the girl spoke for the first time, turning her attention from the game to Ziva.  
>"Yes. Ziva David," Ziva introduced herself, her confident tone masking the fact she felt slightly intimidated by this girl. Not that she would admit that to anyone.<p>

"E.J. Barrett," the girl replied.

Their attention was drawn back to the game as Ziva saw the ball travel at amazing speeds for a game in which no-one moved their feet. The wonders of the modern world. Even as she thought this EJ sprang to life, going from someone who looked like she had just rolled out of bed, but still looked that damn good, to a professional netball player, effortlessly receiving the ball in the D, and casually flicking it into the net with a satisfying swish. Ziva had to admit, it was very impressive.

EJ took the congratulations and claps with a winning smile, before jogging back to where Ziva stood, having not moved in the past few seconds.

"Sorry about that," EJ said, "Where were we?"  
>From any other mouth, Ziva would have laughed at the blatant arrogant words, but somehow she sensed that EJ had no idea what she sounded like. Ziva did not know whether she liked this girl or not.<p>

"Wait, hold on," EJ said, turning to face her full on, "I know you!"

Ziva was about to deny whatever EJ was going to accuse her of, even before the words left EJ's mouth.

"You're dating Anthony DiNozzo!"

Ziva breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, that is me."

"So," EJ said, now in full gossiping girl mode. Ziva was slightly wary of her expression, like EJ was going to devour her "are you and Tony serious?"  
>"Ermmmm…" Ziva mumbled, praying that the ball would come down this side of the courts, and then knock her unconscious so she would not have to follow this conversation. No such luck.<p>

"So that is a yes," EJ answered for her. When Ziva did not deny it, EJ continued, "so have you two…" she did this weird head move, her eyes growing as if Ziva was to fill in the gaps herself. And she did not understand.

"Have Tony and I done what?"

"Had sex."

If Ziva had been drinking anything at that moment, it would have spurted out of her mouth in an impressive fountain, cartoon style. Unfortunately, she did not, so she just gaped at EJ and her amazing audacity. EJ shrugged nonchalantly, as if it was normal to ask someone about their sex life when they had just met each other, where they were currently freezing their extremities off as they stood there.

"I am just saying. He might just be in it for the sex," EJ said, and with that she went off to talk to the goal attack.

Ziva was rolling the conversation over in her head. At first, she had discounted EJ's suggestion. If Tony was just in it for the sex, he would have just found another tramp of the street. But Ziva was never going to be the easy option, yet he took it. And she trusted Tony not to be using her. But that was not the issue. The issue was that the two of them had not done it yet. Maybe it was expected of her? Maybe if she didn't it was increase the probability that he would find her attractive. Not that it was normally an issue. Tony loved to remind her that she was beautiful, to such an extent that she had actually started to believe it herself. But maybe that was not enough. Maybe she was not enough…

oooOOOooo

Tim sat at the edge of the bench in science, his brain having tuned out of the droning words of Mr Fornell. Who had ever thought that triple Biology last thing on a Wednesday was going to be fulfilling for either teacher or student? However, Tim had decided to use his time more constructively, so employed his mind with other things. He had just had the weirdest idea at break, the idea that he could write a book based on his friends. It would be an interesting read, funny and light hearted on one side, but possibly a darker twist. After all, Tony was not exactly on talking terms with his father, so there would be a story there. And goodness knows what Ziva's father was capable off. He had begun to formulate a rough plotline, but soon decided that he was just going to go home and write, and hopefully the words would come to him as they so often did. It was strange that he had taken to creative writing so much. He was a man of science, who revelled in the predictability of computers and science. And yet, he had this creative double life, as someone who wrote. And then there was his method of writing. Who would have thought that someone with so much tech savvy would find solace in using a typewriter. He had tried typing with his computer, but he found that there the white glare of the screen and the constant whine of the computer added to the stress. Writing was his refuge from normal activity, not something that he wanted to raise his blood pressure doing. And the typewriter, with the rhythmic thud of the stamps hitting the paper behind was anything but stressful. That accompanied with his customary jazz music was one of the few pleasures he took in life.

There was an insistent buzz from his pocket, Tim's hand shot out to muffle the sound. He looked around cautiously, but apparently the rest of the class who weren't actually paying attention to the lesson were too entertained as some guys went around sneaking under the benches and stealing the textbooks from the people who were actually paying attention. Tim discreetly reached into his pocket and fished his phone out of his pocket, He moved it to the shelf under the lab desk. Which idiot decided to put shelves under the tables? From the front, the teachers saw nothing. But from where Tim was sitting at the back of the class he saw it all. Most students had their phones out under that bench, just as Tim did, and were texting constantly. There were a few packets of sweets, as guys ate their late breakfast in the lesson, and the amazing thing was the teacher did not notice the rummaging of wrappers. Or he was too lazy to notice. And he was not even going to think about all the messages that people had been leaving for each other…

He unlocked his phone's screen and opened the text that he had just received.

_Tim. I'm bored! xx_

Tim clearly was not the only one who did not enjoy lessons. Abby seemed to be having the same issue as him.

_What lesson do you have? Xx_

Within moments he got a reply

_Maths. Did you have fun last night? Xx_

Tim smirked to himself. Last night he had taken Abby to the park, and they spent some time just walking around, enjoying the scenery and enjoying each other's company. And then things moved into more… x-rated areas…

_You know I enjoyed yesterday… xxx_

_We really need to do that again some time… _Abby replied.

_The walking part, or the other parts ;) … xx_

_Both. Xx_

Tim grinned to himself.

_We should definitely do that again... xx _

Her reply was within moments.

_Which part? Xx_

_Definitely both… xx_

Little did Tim know that he was making Abby blush extremely red with his words. Who would have known that Probie could incur such a reaction in a woman…

oooOOOooo

"Hey beautiful!" Tony said softly, his eyes sparkling with his smile as Ziva opened the front door that evening. But Ziva was not going for the mushy lovey-dovey stuff. Tonight, she was going to have sex with Tony. She tried to convince herself that this was nothing to do with EJ's thrown away comment, but she was having a hard time convincing herself about it…

Without saying a word she pushed him up against the wall and moved to kiss his hard, pressing herself dangerously tight against him. Their bodies were completely aligned, as she ravaged his lips, taking and seeking as she pleased, her mouth hot and needy against his lips. After the initial shock, Tony began to respond, before realising what was happening.

"Woah, my ninja!" he said, slightly breathlessly, pulling back. Ziva was not to be deterred, and began to press kisses against his neck, finding his racing pulse point and rewarding it with some well placed kissed. Tony was almost too occupied with her lips on his body to remember what he was going to say, as the feel of her sweet but sinfully hot lips against his neck, and he imagined what it would feel like on certain parts of him…

Almost.

"Hey," he said again, softly and Ziva reluctantly pulled away. However, this was not before leaving her mark on him, sucking his neck, and the skin reddening in protest.

"What was that all about?" Tony asked. He was not going to lie, he had been enjoying that, but what was up with Ziva and her sudden urges to have a hot make out session.

"Are you complaining?" Ziva asked coyly.

"No…" and Tony was stopped from saying anything when her lips once again found his. However, this time Ziva's hands began to make their way south, and Tony knew that he had to stop before he could no longer stop, even if he wanted to.

"Ziva!" he said, drawing away from her, "what is going on?"  
>"Can't you believe that I just want you!" Ziva said. She had never thought that having sex with Tony would be such a difficult thing. His ex-girlfriends would probably vouch for that. And yet there they were, their bodies pressed up against each other and he was the one complaining? He was having rationally thoughts, when she was trying to get him brainless and stupid? Who would have thought it…<p>

"Ziva, what brought this on?" Tony asked, now slightly suspicious. Maybe someone had said something to her at school. He suddenly felt an overwhelming feeling of protectiveness, like he would walk through fire to get to anyone who had even looked at his Ziva wrong. She was his.

"Ziva!" he said, as he saw her attention slide.

"What!" she said, now just seeming annoyed, "I get it, you don't want this! Fine!"

She sauntered off into Tony's kitchen, helping herself to a cup and water from the fridge. Tony came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.  
>"Ziva, talk to me," he said softly. There was a paused, and Ziva closed her eyes and sighed. She took a breath and turned around, still firmly in his arms.<p>

"I'm guessing telling you that I was really antsy is not going to cut it," Ziva said wryly. Tony grinned at her, and she buried her head in his chest, not wanting to admit her thinking.

"You will think of me differently," Ziva said, her voice muffled against the front of Tony's shirt.

"I'm still waiting," Tony said.

There was a pause, and both of them breathed in each other. Finally Ziva spoke.

"Someone commented how it was strange that we had not… you know…" Ziva said, and Tony understood her. He always seemed to be able to do that, even before they had started dating. It was a skill of his that Ziva was becoming more and more appreciative of.

"We have not done it," he said. She nodded against his chest.

"Do you honestly think that by being in a relationship we are conforming to any kind of social standards?" Tony asked. This, Ziva had to admit, was true. He was some big shot, popular guy that was practically worshipped by the year below (Ziva had still not got over the fact they giggled and squealed every time they saw him. As in, EVERY time…). And she was, well, she was a social nobody. And yet, no-one could deny how perfect they were for each other.

"And besides," Tony continued, "I am not going to have sex with you," Ziva looked up at him confused. Did he not find her pretty enough?

Tony elaborated. His voice dropped and he stared at her straight in the eye, "I am going to make love to you."

These words sent a stab of desire run through her. For a moment, she just wanted to do just that to him, an audience be damned. This was nothing like she had felt moments ago kissing him urgently, but meaninglessly. And those were just words imagine what he could do…

Ziva felt a strange warm sensation spread through her, and colour rushed to her face as she thought of what Tony would think if he saw her thoughts. But by the look in his eyes, he was thinking that exact same.  
>"Well then," Ziva started flirtatiously, "you better start practising."<p>

"Yes Ma'am," Tony said grinning, and swept her into his arms, and proceeded to kiss her soundly. They would wait. For now…

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><p><strong><em>REVIEWS PLEASE! :D<em>**


	29. Chapter 29

**_WOOOO! 10 REVIEWS IN ONE CHAPTER! YAY! :D :D :D :D_**

**_shout out to suncursed whose for last chapter was especially amazing! cyber cookies also go to ncisXpsych12345 , Tiva4eva95, fantasygeek101 (cool, same numbers! we match :P), tivaandmcabby (who has reviewed pretty much EVERY chapter and I can't thank enough), MTGZ, Tivalover4ever, NCIS FTW , easylion, Someoneslove, Robern, and ILoveTiva (who i am also SO grateful for!) _**  
><strong><em>you guys are awesome!<em>**

**_also, I am REALLY sorry if I have got any of the Hanukkah stuff wrong. If you find any bits that are incorrect, please tell me in a review in something!_**

**_anyways, thank for reading this far!_**

**_DISCLAIMER: i no ownnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn_**

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><p>Chapter 29- hit the lights!<p>

It was the first day of Hanukah when the gifts started arriving.

The doorbell rang once on the cold winter's day. Ziva grudgingly walked down the stairs bleary eyed, as she knew that Jenny would not answer the door. Saturdays were the only day of the week that Jenny properly lay in, and there was nothing that was going to prevent her from doing just that. Nothing less than a five on the Richter scale could possibly awaken Jenny from her slumber. Ziva had learnt that a long time ago, so on that day of the week she was forced to deal with the post or any salesmen who wanted to sell them double glazing, or any other kind of useless rubbish that they did not want or need.

Opening the door she was surprised to see no-one at the door. All that stood here was a single lit candle burning as it balanced precariously on the welcome mat, and a small wrapped present. A normal person would have reached for the present, without any thought. But Ziva was more hesitant. There were a million and one people with a million and one reasons to want her dead, despite the fact that she was only 18 years old. Maybe it was a bomb, sent by someone to get to her father? Maybe it was some mysterious white powder that would give her some disease that was tailored so that she would feel maximum pain right to the end of her time of earth, sent by the family of an arms dealer she had been key in bringing down. Ziva looked around trying to find the source of the present and interrogate it. Unfortunately, the only living presence that seemed to be there was the neighbourhood stray cat who had a habit of biting her (she had never figured out what she had done to annoy it so much). Taking a final few looks around, she cautiously took a few hesitant steps outside. The candle still flickered gently, showing that the person here to deliver it would have been not long gone, if the winter winds had not blown it out yet. She picked up that and the present and made her way back inside.

She sat at the dining table, debating about whether she should open the mysterious package. The label on the side of the parcel fluttered, as if reminding her of its presence and she flicked it over.

"Happy Hanukah Zi."

And instantly all her worry and apprehension drifted away. Only one person in the world she knew called her Zi. And that person was defiantly no enemy.

Ziva secreted a knife from her body and eagerly ripped open the parcel to reveal the contents for her eyes. Inside was a small menorah, small enough to be carried and used as an ornament. A smile grew on Ziva's face as she remembered the familiar shape and its purpose in the holidays.

_*Flashback*_

"_Can we light it! Can we light it!" a four year old Tali said jumping up and down in front of her father. A younger less weather-beaten Eli David turned to her, first trying to be annoyed at the insistent voice. But as soon as he set eyes on the youngest David child, he could no longer be aggravated. She was always the apple in his eyes, the only who could get away with murder (sometimes literally) and she would still be Daddy's little girl. Eli let out a sigh. _

"_Go on then," he grumbled, pretending to be going unwillingly, but secretly he was almost as excited as Tali was. Almost. _

_He stood up from his old study chair, with less bones clicking than at present time, as he made his way to the living room of the house. Ari and Ziva "casually" sat reading books, pretending that they were indifferent to the events that happened every year. They were more subtle in their enthusiasm, in comparison to the little bouncing Tali, but Eli could tell that they were not really reading, rather waiting for the time to come. The menorah stood there, tall and proud with the beautiful sky as the background in the evening light as it shone through the window. Ziva and Ari got up from their seats, as their mother walked into the room, bearing the first candle and the shamash. Eli smiled at her as she reached him and took the candles off her. As soon as the whole of the family had assembled, he began to recite the blessing. Ziva remember how the words combined with her father's voice made the whole experience surreal and other-worldly, like the combination of those words and her father's power could make the heavens do as he commanded. Once the candles had been lit, her father and her mother recited the prayer, saying how the candles were a commemoration of the miracles that had occurred. And then finally Ziva's favourite part of the whole process, when her mother started singing the traditional Hanukkah song. Ziva could always picture it, the sound of her mother's voice resonating through the house, as if angels had fallen and graced the house with their singing. And Tali's face, full of wonder as the candle light flickered off her face, the picture of childish innocence. Those were the days…_

_*End of flashback*_

Hanukkah had always been about family. And apparently Ari had not forgotten this. It must have taken some scheming to successfully have a lit candle delivered to her house, without her noticing. Ziva did not even want to know how Ari knew that she was no longer living with her father, but with her godmother, and knowing which address to send the parcel to.

Ziva had been secretly dreading the holiday season, as she was no longer talking to her father, and with her mother and Tali gone there was little of her family left. But apparently Ari had other plans, and she was not going to be celebrating the season alone. Or at least, she no longer felt alone.

Ziva was so wrapped up in the past that she did not notice that Jenny had descended the stairs, all be it in a subconscious state.

"Who was at the door?" she asked drowsily, checking the temperature of the kettle water and having found it to be hot, pouring herself a cut of herbal tea.

"Delivery," Ziva said gesturing at the menorah on the table. Jenny detected that Ziva was being ambiguous with the person who had sent her the menorah for a reason, which only heightened her curiosity. However, Jenny knew that Ziva was a sensible woman, who was capable of withholding information for a reason. And Jenny did not need to know the reason, but only one thing.

"Somebody safe?" Jenny asked. All she needed to know was that Ziva knew who the delivery was from, and if it posed any risk to her. If not, then Jenny was going to allow Ziva the privacy that she wanted.

"Safe," Ziva answered with a smile on her face. Ari as the most dependable person in her family, (despite the whole dying thing), and there was nothing that Ziva would not trust him with.

Jenny was making to walk into the living room to see what was on TV, when Ziva spoke.

"Jenny?" Jenny turned, "Would it be alright if I put this in the living room window?"

Ziva was afraid that she had overstepped an invisible proverbial boundary, and that she had no right to ask such a thing of her. Maybe she should not have imposed her religion and traditions onto Jenny, who just the other week had decorated the Christmas tree with such childish enthusiasm that Ziva had joined in. But to her utter relief Jenny smiled.

"Go ahead. And maybe we could light it together tonight?"

Ziva was surprised that Jenny had agreed, and then she had actually known the tradition of lighting the candle in the evening.

"I grew up with your mother. I know a little about Jewish custom," Jenny explained with a sad smile as she thought about Ziva's mother.

"Jenny," Ziva called again, and this time knowing that there was an even greater chance that she was overstepping the boundaries, "will you tell me about my mum?"

Jenny smiled and beckoned her to the living room. Grinning, Ziva followed her to find out more about her mother.

oooOOOooo

"A pound on the envelopes!"  
>"Any windows door or conservatrie-"<p>

"Strawberries, a pound a punt!

Tim and Abby walked briskly through the market place, Abby tucked neatly at Tim's side as they bustled through the cold streets of the town, weaving between people clothed in their big winter coats. Abby grinned as she listened to the calls of the stall owners, as they attempted to sell everything, from toffee and onion bhajis, to lighters and fancy dress costumes. She had always loved the market, ever since her mum used to take her every Saturday to stock up on fresh fruit and vegetables. Every stall seemed to have its own personality, and every stall owner always acted eager and happy to see them. And even as Abby grew up, the market seemed to stay the same, with the same man selling fish, and the same people selling material and clothes. It was one of the few constants in her life.

"So what was it that I needed?" Abby turned to Tim who was apparently not enjoying the situation as much. He was not seeing the personalities and the vibrant colours and smells. He was feeling people barge past him, the stench of cigarette smoke sticking to him, and the constant yelling from each owner, each trying to outdo the other was giving him a head ache.

"A diary for your mum," he replied. He felt like her walking talking shopping list. But he was going to do anything he could to get himself out of this as soon as he could, and if that involved assisting Abby, then so be it. He could not even remember why he had offered his services in the first place. But the sooner they were made redundant, the better.

Abby grinned at him and turned back to the path in front of them. She expertly weaved in between the crowds, pausing for a second to throw a few coins to the Salvation Army band that was playing Christmas carols that filled up the whole town square with Christmas joy and cheer. They reached the stall, and Abby untangled herself from Tim so she could look around.

"Well hello there," a male voice called. Timmy's head snapped up at the flirtatious tone, to see Abby being addressed by the stall keeper. He was a young man, probably in his early twenties who was fairly good looking, whose smile (that Tim would label as slightly creepy. But he was biased) was currently directed at Abby. And that made Tim's blood boil. How dare he leer at _his _girl. He had better not try anything…

"Hi!" Abby replied enthusiastically. But what the store holder was not aware of was that Abby was enthusiastic about everything. He ignorantly took it as a sign that his advances were successful.

"What are you looking for?" he asked.

"A diary for my mum," Abby replied, and Tim was going to go over there and punch the leer of that man's face as Abby cast her eyes across the selection of notepads on display. This was when Tim decided that he was going to have to intervene, before that man did something that he regretted…

"Hey babe, you chosen one yet," Tim said casually sliding up next to her. Abby instinctively put her arms around him and pulled him closer. Tim shot the other man a look, as if to say, "yes, you see right. She is mine".

"I like this one!" Abby said picking up one of the books, and she dug into her purse to find the right amount of money. But Tim stopped her without even so much of a glance at the cover.

"I've got this," he said, and he paid the man the correct amount.

Abby sent Tim the hugest of grins, and after one final glare at the stall owner they walked off, Abby still buried in his arms.

A little further away from the stall Abby turned to Timmy. Tim could see the flash of mischief in her eyes, and she leaned closer to him, so as not to be overhear by anyone.

"For the record," she started flirtatiously, "I love when you get all territorial of me."

"You noticed?" Tim thought she was oblivious to the effect she had on men around her. Clearly not oblivious enough.

Abby nodded in response.

"Well then," Tim said, getting closer to her and pressing his forehead against hers, "you were doing that on purpose?"

Abby bit her lip smirking and nodded.

"I think someone need to be punished," Tim said, his voice low, sending shivers up and down her spine. She knew that he knew what effect he was having on her. But then again, two could play the game.

"Just to let you know," she said loudly, then her voice dropped, "I loved it when you called my babe."

Tim smirked, "You are _my_ babe."  
>"I am yours," Abby admitted whole-heartily, and Tim rewarded the correct answer with a kiss on her lips. And then her neck. And then her cheeks…<p>

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><p><strong><em>REVIEWS=LOVE :D<em>**


	30. Chapter 30

**_!_**

**_this update is a little late, and a little on the short side :( I have been uber busy, I am playing in a battle of the bands, and life is generally crazy..._**

**_this one is a little different, because this is my 30th chapter! wowzers!_**

**_disclaimer: me not own :(_**

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><p>Chapter 30- and the bells are ringing out for Christmas time<p>

The lights shone through windows as families tucked excited children in for the night, as they wriggled around eager to see what toys the next day would bring. Parents snuck around downstairs on tiptoes, creating the magic that was the illusion that Santa had been, eating the cookies set out for him and leaving "snowy" talcum-powder boot outlines on the welcome mats. Moving along the street the scene was similar in every house. Other than in this one.

"YAY PRESENTS!" Abby squealed as the dinner dishes were being cleared away. The group of friends had gathered on Christmas Eve's at Tony's (location chosen for its size, and the fact there was no parent around to supervise) to exchange gifts. They all had plans to spend the next day with family, some blood family, some adoptive family, so they had taken this day to have their own mini celebration. Which was agreed on the condition that they got to open their presents early.

There were four presents, all wrapped up in newspaper perched on the living room table that had been teasing Abby ever since she had entered the house. They were mysteries, all but the one she had contributed herself…

_Flashback_

_Pick on," Abby said to Ziva, thrusting a red cloth bag in front of her. _

"_Pick one what?" Ziva said cautiously, reaching into the bag fearful that something strange was going to happen. This was Abby after all. _

"_A name! For secret Santa!" Abby said, as if it was obvious._

"_What is secret Santa?"_

"_You have never done secret Santa before?" Abby looked incredulous. Ziva was too busy examining the name on the piece of paper that she had withdrawn from the bag to make a comment. _

"_You buy a present for the person you have chosen, but you don't tell them or anyone else who you got. We exchange gifts, and the secret Santa is revealed!"_

"_ok…" she said, trying to process what Abby had said. Which was difficult, because she had said it all so fast. "Who else is in this, "Secret Santa" thing?" _

"_Just Timmy and Tony! We can get together on Christmas Eve or something to exchange gifts!" Abby said excitedly. _

_Ziva had tuned Abby's rambling out as she thought of who she had picked out of the bag. This was going to be interesting… _

_End of flashback_

"Should we not do the dishes first?" Ziva asked, trying to enforce law and order into the situation, because she was apparently that one who was least affected by the season, and had not turned into a child again, "the longer you leave them, the harder they get!"

Tony set her a dirty look, and Ziva understood what she had just said, and how he had interpreted it.

"Harder to wash! I meant harder to wash," she said, verbally rolling her eyes at his dirty mind. Not that she minded his dirty mind. In fact, it did certainly have its advantages at time…

"You finished playing grab-ass over there?" Abby asked, her voicing dripping in purposefully staged innocence. Ziva stuck her tongue out and sighed, resigning herself to the fact that her reasoning was not going to be accepted. But secretly, she was almost as excited as Abby was. The mystery was killing her, as she had spotted her package when she had taken a sneaky glimpse on the way back to the toilet, and had been curious ever since. It would have been so easy for her to go over there, and just shake the package just to see if she could guess what was inside. But she had steeled herself, and made herself wait. But the wait was killing her.

They made their way into the living room, beers and drinks in hand. Abby eagerly devoured the pile, thrusting presents into the surprised and often unaware hands of the owners (who would have ever known that Tim's reflexes could be so quick, and he could have caught that beer that Tony had dropped in fright, before it hit the ground?).

"I want to open first!" Abby said, and before anyone could protest, she ripped the wrapping off her wrapping. Inside lay a beautiful cross necklace, with a huge red jewel set in the middle. It was beautiful, yet classy, and not tacky in the slightest. Abby was speechless for the first time that evening.

"It's…" she started, "it's beautiful!"

"Ok, was it from Timmy?" Abby asked and he said nothing.

"Right my turn?" McGee asked, and he ripped open his present. Inside was a small white box, which opened up to reveal a watch. A leaflet fell out of the box, and Tim read it out,

""The Relativity watch. The hands of this watch tell the time, but the face doesn't. The numbers are melty, much like your concept of time. In 30 seconds, the 3 becomes a 9, or the 11 becomes a 5. Suitable for time travellers" nice…" he said grinning, pulling it out and trying it on for size.

"Wow, McNerd. I never thought you could sink lower into the depths of geek. Apparently I am mistaken," Ton said. Ziva hit him lightly in the shoulder, to tell him to stop the teasing. She thought it was lightly anyway. He apparently did not think so, by the wincing.

"Ladies first," Tony said, still face screwed up and hand held protectively over his shoulder. Ziva shot him a "don't be such a baby" look, and reached for her present. On the outside, she was as relaxed and complacent as always, but she was secretly wanting to rip open the paper as violently as Abby had done. However, with a little more self control, she managed to pull out a knife and slice the layer of paper off. And she raised her eyebrows so much they almost fell off the top of her head. She was not expecting what she got.

Inside lay a light pink ukulele wrapped in a layer of white tissue paper. A note fell out of the paper.

"Because everyone needs a ukulele in their life" was written in magazine letters, so the handwriting of the sender could not be analysed, almost serial killer style.

"Wow," was all Ziva could say. She had never thought about taking up another instrument, not least one as amazingly strange and "chilled out" as the ukulele. But maybe she should give it a shot. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

"I think this is from Abby," she said. No-one else would be able to find reason for getting such a random and pointless present, and then convince the person that they needed it in their life. If the whole forensics did not work out for Abby, she could most certainly go into marketing. She could make anyone buy anything, without them even knowing they needed it.

"So I guess that leaves me," Tony said, and he reached for his present. The sender of this gift had clearly put a lot of thought into the gift. Inside were a number of books, and their corresponding movies. The titles ranged from the last Harry Potters, to "The men who stared at goats". It was an interesting present, and Tony was impressed.

"I think this is from Ziva?" he said hesitantly. Tim smiled widely, and gave himself away.

"You?" Tony said, and Tim smiled bashfully.

"Maybe you might like the books, and if you don't, you have another movie to add to the collection," he explained.

"So who bought me my present?" Abby said, as she was convinced that her gift was from Tim.

"Guilty," Tony said, and Abby launcher herself at him.

"Thank you! I love it!" she said, "it's beautiful!"

"And was extremely difficult to find…" Tony muttered, which made Abby tightlen her grip on him even more, until he winced at the lack of oxygen.

"This was from you?" Tim asked quietly, as Tony gasped for air beside them. Ziva smiled, not saying anything but answering the question all the same.

"Thank you," he said, and he kissed her on the cheek and Ziva smiled, before curling up back on the same sofa as Tony.

"Thank you, Abby, for the ukulele. I am sure I will find a book that will teach me," Ziva said turning to Abby.

"Or I could teach you?" Tony said, and Ziva turned to him in surprise.

"You play?"

"I am a man of many talents…" Tony said.

"There was a girl involved," Ziva stated.

"Yup," he admitted, and Ziva rolled her eyes at him.

McGee and Abby left an hour later, after being much entertained by Tony attempting to teach Ziva how to play the ukulele. They had bundled up in the cold December night Tim was dropping her off at her house when he stopped her.

"I haven't given you your present yet," he said, and Abby looked confused.

"You did not have to. That was the point of the Secret Santa!"  
>"I did secret Santa because I had to," he explained, "I got you a present before I wanted to."<br>Abby smiled, trying to feel guilty about the fact she had got him a very small present.

Tim reached into his pocket and fetched an envelope. Abby slid her finger under the flap of the envelope and pulled out the contents. There were tickets to a convert that she had been dying to see, and had been so excited to go see. Unfortunately, she had never managed to get tickets, as they had sold out in less than 7 seconds. But somehow, there were two tickets in her hand right now.

"But… how?" Abby asked, for once lost for words.

Tim just smiled mysteriously and Abby pulled him into a deep long kiss.

"Was that my present? Because if it was, I could die a happy man," Tim said grinning.

"This is kind of a present for both of us…" she said, and she pulled a jewellery bow from the depths of her bag.

""Property of Abby Scuito. Touch and die?"" he read off the dog tags and Abby grinned. Tim turned to her, and without breaking eye contact, he slipped the chain over his neck and tucker them into his shirt. He was hers for as long as she wanted him. And judging by the kiss she gave him after words, he was going to be sticking around for a while…

Tony and Ziva had long since abandoned the impromptu ukulele lesson. The sat in each other's arms, silently taking in the presence of the other.

"Will you promise me something?" Ziva said turning abruptly to Tony. She had been thinking about this for the time that they were laying there.

"Anything," Tony said without missing a beat. He had no hesitation when it came to Ziva. Ziva was pretty certain that if she asked him to just off a bridge, he would drive all the way to London to jump off the London Bridge, just to make it extra special for her. But this was Tony, and this was his style. He was all for extravagant gestures, whereas Ziva was more subtle in her affections. It did not take a body language expert to see that Tony had a massive impact on her. Whenever Tony was in the room, Ziva's posture would be titled in his direction, or to see that her eyes wandered to his body every time he was in seeing distance. And when she caught herself and looked away, is was not long until her gaze returned to him. They were soul mates, some strange tie between them that neither quite understood, but both loved. And both were terribly afraid of.

"You promise," she started, slowly and hesitantly, "that the day you stop loving me, you tell me?"

This had been playing on her mind for a while. She knew that she had feelings for Tony, which were way too deep and scary for her to understand. But she did not want to drag him down, if he stopped feeling for her. She loved him too much.

Tony thought about his answer before he gave it. He did not want to scare her, but he wanted to tell her how he felt.

"What if that day never comes?" he asked, staring at her straight in the eye. She smiled.

"Then you shall have me forever," she said and Tony leant in to kiss her tenderly and sweetly, moving his lips in the dance they could have been doing forever. That they should have been doing forever.

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><p><strong><em>Reviews please? :)<em>**


	31. Chapter 31

**_SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATEEE!_**

**_you have no idea how difficult it is to learn two scripts with two characters. my head is spinning 24/7_**

**_Thank you for all the reviews, especially to Caskett 4eva, a new reviewer of mine who's amazingly positive review had me smiling all day :)_**

**_DISCLAIMER. i no own. _**

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><p>Chapter 31- I had the best day with you today…<p>

Christmases at the DiNozzo's, one of the happiest times of the year. Or not.

"Junior, what do you want for lunch?" DiNozzo Senior asked. Of course the traditional roast was not an option. Most of his father's ex-wives had not hung around for long enough to ever be involved in the holiday season.

Tony had a strange system in place for remembering all of his step-mothers. In his mind, each one was connected to a phase in his life that he had grown out of. Angela was the first one that he could remember. She was around when he had first started to play the violin, an idea from his father that was supposed to keep him occupied in the duller moments of the day. DiNozzo Senior however had not expect the awful sounds that could emerge from an amateur violinists, the sound that made dying cats sound like angels singing in the firmament. The violin lessons had been gone just as fast as Angela had, when he relationship with his father became as flat of his violin playing (pun intended). Then there was Eve, who had been the best cook out of all of them to date. He had really been sad to see the back of her. With her around, he had been convinced that he was going to become a professional chef, one of those that worked in those swanky restaurants in the East End of London, where the kitchen was in the middle of the dining area, and all the girls would giggle and pass him their numbers with their orders. He was 12 year old (he started young…). And as Tony grew, and he phased from one person to another, the step mothers came and went, changing almost as much as his adolescent hairstyle. He had leanrnt from an early age that attachment was unnessecary and unwanted. And were best avoided if he wished to survive.

Christmas was all about family and friends, and at a young age, Tony had neither of these things. All he had was his darling father, who seemed to live at work, and his movies.

In the beginning, his father had set him in front of the TV and put on whatever DVD he could find, just to keep the child occupied. The magical stories of orphan boys who became pirates, or magical lands kept him enthralled for hours, and Senior no longer had to supervise his TV watching so that he did not run off. However, when he grew older he became less fascinated with the story lines, but the actors themselves. He was amazed how they could become an entirely different person, and for a long period of time he would dream of being an actor, someone who had the power to evoke emotions in people who he would never have to physically meet. He could make them laugh, cry, whatever he wanted them to. And he could be someone else entirely. He could have a loving father, brothers and sisters, a mother who was alive. He could be immortal and invincible. A super hero. He began to read up on the movies, starting by reading the back of the DVD case to see who was in the movie, before progressing when he acquired his first computer (aged 6. There were some benefits from coming from wealth…). There he could research actors and directors, see how the films was made, and how everything that looked to real could be made, proving that with enough skill, anything could be real to others. He could recite the stars of his favourite filmes before he could do his 12 times tables. And even though he grew, and he did eventually learn his 12 times tables, he still had all that knowledge in his mind about his own world.

Now, years on, Tony sat infront of the TV, watching a movie for the 5th time, when his phone buzzed loudly on the table. The light radiated of the polished finish, as it sat face down, and Tony know who it was without looking.

He flicked the screen opened and smiled as his prediction was correct.

"This is the amazing charming DiNozzo, how may I be of assistance?"  
>"Charming? I think I have the wrong number," the voice at the other end teased.<p>

"Well, Miss David, do you have any other better words of description?" Tony asked, his tone showing irratation, but his broad grin showing that he was lieing.

"Let me think…" Ziva said, mock seriously, "what about… an irratating pain in the butt?"

"And here was me thinking that you rang for a reason, and not just to insult me."

"So what are you doing?" Ziva said conversationally, and Tony could hear her shuffling around, getting comfy on the couch at the other end of the phone. She was preparing for a long conversation. He loved these almost as much as she did, the long conversations about nothing and everything becoming as much of their relationship as each other.

"Just watching a movie. You get anything nice for Christmas?" Tony said, trying to turn the conversation back to her.

"You are aware that Jews don't celebrate Christmas?" Ziva said mockingly.

"You did not answer the question," Tony pointed out. He had noticed that Ziva had a habit of making sure she was not the centre of attention, unlike many girls that he had dated in the past that had got sad and would mope if they thought that he was not paying adequate attention to them. But Ziva was different from all the other girls. For started, she made all of them look like men. And then there was the fact that Tony would never call her a girl, in front of her or not (she seemed to have picked up the Gibbs' sense from spending too much time around Gibbs. Crazy ninja chick…). She had a confidence about her that most middle aged women would never achieve. And she was teasing and playful as the next person, as proved by her earlier jibe.

"Jenny bought me some stuff. She should not have…" Ziva answered finally.

"What did she get you?"  
>"You should come over. I could show you. And I could show you some… other things," Ziva said, and Tony had to physically shake his head to remove the image that she was completely aware that she was creating in his head.<p>

"That is, if you are not doing anything with your father…" Ziva said, taking his silence as a chance for him to make an excuse.

"No, I am there! Have you eaten?"

"Not yet. But Jenny has made enough to feed a large hungry army, so there will be enough. Even for you, Tony," she said, again teasing him.

"I will be there in a few moments," and with that they said their goodbyes and hung up. Tony's grin grew even wider.

"Dad! Don't bother with something for me, I'm going out."

He bundled himself up in his thick winter coat faster than his father could protest.

Ziva answered the door before he could reach out and knock on it.

"Someone is keen," Tony commented, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek.

"Would you rather I let Gibbs answer the door?" Ziva asked, and Tony winced. Even though he had grown used to the presence of Gibbs around Jenny's house, this did not mean he feared him any less. Gibbs had practically adopted Ziva as his second daughter, and every time that Tony saw him, he looked like he would willingly use him as target practise. With real bullets. And it did not help that Gibbs had a habit of walking in on them at the most unfortunate times…

_Flashback_

"_TONY! STOP THAT!" Ziva squealed loudly. Tony had recently discovered that Ziva was extremely ticklish, and had used this to his advantage on a number of occasions. They were currently arguing over which movie to watch. And Tony had turned it into a tickling match._

"_Only when you agree with me," Tony said. _

"_NEVER!" _

_Tony doubled his efforts, and increased the area which he was touching. He didn't realise how much he had broadened his horizons until he encountered the soft fabric of Ziva's bra. _

_Immediately Ziva stopped laughing and looked at him intensely. Then, without breaking eye contact, she captured his lips in hers, turning so she was fully straddling him. Tony took this as a sign to continue, and began to massage the fabric. And with the appreciative noises that were emerging from Ziva's mouth, she was also enjoying this. He brought his hands up underneath her shirt, bunching the fabric so her tan skin was exposed, and lightly caressed the skin there. She shuddered in his lap, and he disconnected his lips from hers and brushed them lightly across her throat. The moan escaped from her mouth was loud enough to be heard throughout the house. Loud enough to be heard…_

"_DINOZZO!"_

_Oops. _

_End of Flashback_

"OK, I am definitely glad that you answered the door," Tony said, and Ziva shut the door behind the both of them. Tony wasted no time, pushing her gently against the wall and kissing her sweetly.

The clearing of the throat brought them out of their passion.

"Gibbs," Tony said nervously, cursing his bad luck. Why was it that every time Gibbs saw him with Ziva he always had his tongue down her throat. Or worse.

"Jen says lunch is ready. If you two have finished playing grab ass," Gibbs grumbled and walked off.

"You know, I think that is the most it have ever heard him say to me in one go," Tony commented to Ziva after he was sure Gibbs was out of earshot.

"Don't get used to it."  
>OK, maybe they weren't completely out of earshot. Dammit.<p>

Tony looked around the dinner table. Each of them had been wrestled into a paper hat (Gibbs included) and they all sat, carving the perfectly cooked roast lamb joking and laughing among themselves. So this is what Christmas was supposed to be like. It was about family, something that Tony had never had for most of his life. But now he had this, Ziva, and her adoptive parents. He had never had such an enjoyable Christmas. And it felt good.

Dessert was warming in the oven, and Gibbs excused himself to go and work on the boat while it was warming. To much of the table's surprise, Tony asked if he could join him. Wordlessly Gibbs cocked his head to the side and beckoned him over with two fingers.

As the pair retreated into the basement, Jenny spoke.

"Oh to be a fly on the wall in there…"

Gibbs jogged down the stairs and flicked the light on. Tony had never seen the boat before, and was stunned by the enormity of the project. Ziva had described it to him, but seeing it in the flesh was something else.

"Wow," he said, and Gibbs said nothing. He produced two glasses and tipped a finger of bourbon into each.

"I just wanted to talk to you about Ziva," Tony began nervously. Gibbs again said nothing, but pulled out a chair and gestured at Tony to sit down.

"Ziva's father is not exactly around to defend her honour, and she sees you as her dad," Tony continued.

"I get the impression that you think that I am only looking to get into her pants. Going on what you have seen of the two of us, I would not blame you."

Gibbs tilted his head, as if to say "ya think?" Tony sighed and continued.

"But I wanted to let you know…" he started nervously, "she means a lot to me. More than I think you know. And I thought that I would ask her dad for his permission to date her.

"Would it stop you if I said no?" Gibbs said, and Tony was too busy answering the question to notice that it was the first thing that Gibbs had said to him all evening (not including interrupting Ziva and Tony in their lip-lock).

"Nope," Tony said grinning, trying to mask the fact he was terrified at the moment.

Gibbs suddenly got up, and for one terrifying moment Tony thought he was going to come over and strangle him with his bare hands. Instead he walked over the stern of the boat, and Tony was drawn to the black script on the wood. Ziva.

"You are not the only one who she means a lot to," Gibbs said, sounding gruff. He had never been good with words, and this was Tony. Of all people.

"You know her past," Gibbs said, more of a statement than a question, "she has been hurt too much. You hurt her, and I swear that will be the last thing you will ever do."  
>"I think if I hurt her I will be too busy beating myself up over losing the best thing that ever happened to me," Tony said truthfully and that answer seemed to satisfy Gibbs.<p>

They sat in silence for a moment, before they heard to door swing open and a head emerge from behind it.

"Jenny says the pie is ready."

Gibbs gave Tony a final nod and jogged lightly up the stairs to where dessert lay. Tony however stayed where he was and Ziva walked slowly down the stairs to him.

"I love you," he suddenly blurted out. He had to tell her what she meant to him. And even though actions spoke louder than words, sometimes words were needed.

Ziva look surprised for a moment, her eyes growing wider for a moment.

"That is good," she said once she had recovered, "because I love you too."

"I bought you something…" he said, reaching into his inside pocket and getting a small wrapped parcel.

"Tony, you should not h-"

"Just open it," Tony said impatiently. Ziva rolled her eyes and pulled the string. Inside lay a box and Ziva flipped it open and gasped. Inside lay a silver ring, three diamonds shining brightly under the dim basement lights.

"I thought Gibbs would freak if I got you an engagement ring. So this is a promise ring, a promise to get you the next best thing whenever you are ready," Tony said, and Ziva was speechless. Tony took the ring out of the box and slid it onto her finger. It fit perfectly. Tony grinned widely. Nothing had ever looked more beautiful, her slender hand and that ring on her finger. He leaned down to seal their lips together, his hand coming up and c-

"DINOZZO!"

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><p><strong><em>reviews please! :)<em>**


	32. Chapter 32

**_WOOOOO! OVER 250 REVIEWS! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! :D :D :D_**

**_cyber cookies to NCISNumber1Fan, Lianna-snow and Caskett 4eva for guessing the song as Best Day by Taylor Swift, ,and extra cybercookies (with chocolate chips :P) for NCISNumber1Fan for getting the episode from WAYYYYY back in chaoter 7! This chapter's song may be a little more different, but if you love country you will guess this no trouble ;)_**

**_anyways, on with the story! as always, all publicly recognised charecters are not mine :(_**

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><p>Chapter 32- would you walk to the edge of the ocean, just to fill my jar with sand?<p>

It was one of the rare occasions that McGee was back at school, having been on study leave for the past few months. But there he was, trying to explain to a teacher why they should lend him a copy of the textbook that he desperately needed for revision, the same one that his dog had eaten (not that they believed him. He wondered why…). After a heated argument McGee found the staffroom door being slammed in his face. He stalked off angrily, muttering under his breath about stupid incompetent teachers who acted li-

"Hey! McGee!"

The voice pulled him out of his rage, and he turned to see Mikel. His expression broke into a grin. Mikel was also in his Physics class, so he could probably whine to him about the stupidity of Mr Starkings. However McGee could see that there was something on Mikel's mind, that was not to do with teachers, or anything to do with school. And it was only when Mikel reached him, and his fist collided with McGee's face did he realise what it was.

"WHAT THE HELL!" McGee yelled, grabbing his nose as blood poured out of it. Had his reflexes not been as fast as they were now (thanks to CCF) he would have definitely wound up with a broken nose. The kid wasn't particularly strong, but the rage and anger behind the punch seemed to compensate. So instead of a broken nose, McGee had some that was bleeding profusely.  
>"ARE YOU SLEEPING WITH <em>MY <em>ABBY?" Mikel yelled.

"_Your _Abby?" McGee asked. Not he was just plain angry. First his stupid teacher, now this?

"She is mine!"

"SHE NEVER WAS YOURS! She helped you with your Biology homework _once!_ That does not constitute as dating!" McGee yelled back.

That was the moment when Mikel threw another punch. This time, McGee was much more prepared, so the punch aimed from his torso just glanced off his shoulder. McGee knew that the force that he had put behind the punch would mean he would be unbalanced, so ducked around him, pulling Mikel's arm with him, twisting it to an abnormal angle. McGee was so annoyed at that moment, he was about to push a little harder, in his mind calculating the pressure that would be needed to pop the shoulder out of its socket.

"McGee!"

Tim turned around, and saw Gibbs striding purposely towards them. McGee let go of Mikel and he stumbled forward, before taking off like a startled gazelle. McGee was preparing himself for a telling off, a lecture about how fighting on school grounds was not a good idea. Therefore he started talking accordingly.

"He hit me first, I was just defending myself!"

Gibbs however said nothing, and just motioned at McGee to follow him. McGee was then aware of the fact that his nose was still bleeding profusely, and held onto it for dear life, as he staggered after Gibbs.

Minutes later McGee found himself with a wet cloth on his face, tilted forward on a chair as Gibbs sat down next to him.

"You better?" Gibbs said. This was the first thing that he had said since the start of the whole scenario, and McGee was too shocked to do anything but nod.

"It's good to see that some of the CCF training is paying off," Gibbs said wryly, and McGee chuckled in response. He would have never thought that he could hold a conversation with this man, he had such an air of authority and power around him. But now, McGee was not as nervous.  
>"So why did you pick a fight with him?" Gibbs asked casually.<p>

"He started it. Found out I was dating Abby, and he didn't like it I guess," McGee explained.

"Abby Scuito?"

"You know her?" McGee asked surprised. He had always known that Gibbs knew Ziva, but Abby?

"I am her uncle," Gibbs said, and McGee swallowed hard. He knew that Gibbs had threatened to kill Tony if he broke Ziva's heart, and she wasn't even blood related. But Abby was his niece. He was most certainly doomed.

There was a moment of awkward silence as Tim sweated about what Gibbs was going to say.

"You seem like a smart kid," Gibbs said. Tim let the fact that Gibbs called him a "kid" slide. He hated when he was called that, and it was never in a good way.

"So I imagine that you can work out what I will do to you if you hurt her," Gibbs continued and Tim nodded. A punishment worse than death was most likely. And as a young writer, he was already thinking about scenarios and consequences.

"Well," Tim answered, "it is a good thing that I am not planning to." His voice sounded more confident than he felt, and Gibbs nodded appreciatively. McGee sighed inaudibly in relief. That was one bullet dodged…

oooOOOooo

The cold British winter was drawing to an end, and the hesitant bunches of blossom began to emerge from the trees and flower beds. And as the seasons changed, there was more change in the air. The year 13s were off on study leave, some choosing to spend their time cramming for exams, and others spending their time a little… less constructively.

"TONY! We really need to finish this topic, or there is no way you are going to pass this exam, let alone gain a scholarship!" Ziva yelled, as she found Tony looking down her top instead of looking at the textbook in her arms.

"Relax Ziva, my coursework has been good all year, and I already know the story," Tony said defensively.

"Have you even read the book yet?" Ziva asked sceptically.

"Of course not! Bu-"

"PRECISELY!"

"But I saw the movie," Tony finished and Ziva rolled her eyes. Of course he did.

"So do you want to explain it?"  
>"Well it was directed by Joe Wright, starring Keira Knightly and Matthew MacFayden and Rosamund Pi-" he started.<p>

"The plotline, not the film!" Ziva yelled.

"Oh right, why didn't you just say?" Tony said, pretending to be ignorant. Ziva rolled her eyes at him, but then he proceeded to tell her the story in great depth and detail, despite the fact that he had never read the book before in his life.

Ziva sighed. "That was actually quite impressive…" she said.

"I know some other things that are quite impressive about me…" Tony murmured, and moved to kiss her. But Ziva was too fast, and instead of connecting with her lips, Tony found that he was kissing her cheek instead.

"No kisses until we finish this chapter, and then Chemistry," Ziva scolded, and Tony pouted like a school boy being told off. Ziva rolled her eyes at his immaturity.

"So what about Shakespeare?"

Two hours later Ziva finally decided that Tony was as ready as he would ever be for his English exam, and they had moved on to Chemistry (not after Tony had been awarded with his well done kiss, which turned into a long make out session. Tony had to sacrifice his break for that…). Ziva was surprised to find that Tony was actually extremely good at the subject, and needed little help with it.

"Why do you look so surprised?" Tony asked, after Ziva had slipped in a very difficult question designed to trip him up into her interrogation.  
>"I just did not expect this to be one of your best subjects."<br>"It's just easy, and it just makes sense" Tony shrugged nonchalantly, and Ziva grinned. She knew that he had more than his looks going for him.

"So when did Abby and McCharmer say that they were coming?" Tony asked, trying to change the subject. Ziva noticed this, but let it slide.

"They said three, but Abby said that they would be late."

"I bet they will be…" Tony said suggestively. Ziva narrowed her eyes.

"Their sex lives have nothing to do with us. And even if they are "at it", how would that differentiate from the desire of someone like say, YOU?" she joked, and Tony grumbled under his breath.

"We should take a break, do you know your lines yet?" Tony said. That was the other thing that was monopolising their lives. The date for the musical was looming closer, and even though both of them had the songs and choreography down, the lines were an issue. Tony had pretty much learnt all of them, but Ziva who had been cast at the last minute had only been given the script recently. And that meant she had to learn the lines, fast. It was not like they were able to cut out lines of the script, and even though Ms Sumners had been very understanding Ziva could feel the pressure that she was putting on herself to learn them. Therefore, on top of all the revision that she had, she was filling her brain with lines and cues and movement. It was a lot.

"It's over there," Ziva said, motioning to the well leafed through script. The lavender colour made it easy to spot from a distance. And this was a useful characteristic, as the script had been all over the house, with her as she ate breakfast, stuffed in her bag as she went to school, in bed as her bedtime reading. And the well use showed, as it had been stapled several times to keen the pages from falling apart.

"OK, here we go," Tony said. And so it began.

The knock on the door drew them out of their dialogue. So far Ziva had got the first 3 scenes without hesitation, but as the end came nearer, the unpractised sections began to stick out like sore thumbs.

"You get it," Ziva ordered, as she lay back on the sofa, her mind pulsing with the effort that the past few hours had taken. She had not been this mentally stretched for a long time, but she was determined that she was going to not make a mess out of this one.

Abby and Tim entered, both carrying pizza boxes in their hands. Ziva smelt the cheese and spoke without opening her eyes.

"I shotgun a whole one," she said.

"What have you been doing to her?" Abby said in a stage whisper, the connotations that came with it as clear as ever.  
>"Learning lines. Nothing else," Tony clarified, and took a box for both of them.<p>

"Up," he said, tapping on the top of her head, and she grudgingly moved. Tony sat on the place that her head had just vacated, and she put her head back down on his lap.

Abby turned to McGee, clearly wanting to say something about how cute a tired Ziva and Tony were together. Tim just gave her a look and she let it go.

"Hawaiian or margarita?" Abby asked the comatose Ziva.

"Whichever one is bigger," Ziva grumbled under her breath.

"You really should sit up, or the food will go down funny. See, when you eat, food travels down your oesophagus and the oesophagus sphincter opens to all-" Tony said, parroting what Ziva had taught him a few moments ago. She did not know that this was going to come back and haunt her in this manner.

"Go play in the traffic," she shot back.

"Now Ziva, that is no way to talk to the person who has the pizza," Tony scolded, and Ziva scowled and dutifully sat up.

Abby shot McGee a look, and McGee could not help but agree with her unsaid statement. They were cute together, in a weird Mr and Mrs Smith kind of way. They were as domestic as a married couple, and after the first few weeks of the "honeymoon faze" they now argued like an old married couple. But the secret looks they shot each other when they thought that no-one was looking were proof of their real feelings. Ziva would never want and harm to come to Tony, no matter how many times she threatened to kill him on a regular basis, and McGee was pretty sure that she would kill anyone who dare lay a finger on her man. A bit like how he felt with Abby.

They settled down to eat their pizza, Ziva and Tony bickering and Abby chipping in every so often. Tim just lent back on his chair, not engaging in conversation, but just observing as he normally did. Abby snuggled deeper into his embrace and he couldn't help but grin. Yes. This was good. This was really good…

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><p><strong><em>reviews for the cheesey ending? :P<em>**


	33. Chapter 33

**_Hello!_**

**_this chapter was inspired by NCISNumer1Fan who requested for some more Tiva, and this idea grew from there. This chapter is dedicated to you and any other Tiva fans!_**

**_the song from last chapter was All Your Life by the Band Perry. Awesome song..._**

**_i hope you enjoy this chapter. it is REALLY long, so feel free to take coffee breaks in between (i did). the result surprised me, and i was the writer, so you may be even more surprised..._**

**_DISCLAIMER: not mine. _**

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><p><strong>Chapter 33- she heard the trumpets from the military band and the flowers fell out of her hand.<strong>

"No Tony, we really need to be revising for tomorrow!" Ziva squealed in between breaths as Tony tackled her and tickled her everywhere that he could reach.

"But this is so much more enjoyable," Tony said, still not relenting. They were sprawled across Ziva's bed, revision guides surrounding them and spilling onto the floor. However, very little revising was actually being done, due to the fact that Tony found something else very distracting…

"Tony! I have a face!" Ziva mock scolded him. Tony had been staring at her for the past few minutes in complete awe. Due to the hot weather, Ziva had decided that less was more, and was wearing a strappy tank top and a very short pair of shorts. This was, apparently, too much for Tony to bare, and every few seconds he would find his eyes drawn to her long tan legs that never seemed to end, or the fact that her top did nothing but enhance her assets…

"Sorry, did you say something?" Tony asked absentmindedly, and Ziva was trying to figure out whether he was genuinely insolent, or if he tried _really _hard to be.

"You are aware that the exam is tomorrow?" Ziva said, and Tony shrugged his shoulders. Ziva sighed. Sometimes she felt more like his mother than his girlfriend.

"What seat are you in?"  
>"B14," Tony said with no hesitation. So he had been paying some attention. Interesting…<p>

"And what's you candidate number?"  
>"22637," Tony said, and again Ziva was impressed. It was only in the past few days that Ziva had found out that Tony was actually very intelligent. The first time that she had said this Tony faked a hurt look, but she was serious. His memory was amazing, he was extremely eloquent (that probably came from watching movies rated 18 when most children were watching Dora the Explorer…), and he had a level of understanding that most people didn't ever achieve. Like he understood Physics, and could use this to logically work out what the answer was. Ziva mused to herself that one day, if the whole sports thing did not work out, Tony could become a very good lawyer, or even a cop.<p>

Ziva was about to ask him an obscure question, like what was _her _candidate number, to really see how much he knew and remembered, when the doorbell rang. It was unusual for anyone to be calling at the headmistress' house at this time of the day; no salesmen ever came there, and anyone who wanted to visit Jenny knew that she would be working at this time of the day. Ziva shot a quizzical glance at Tony, who put his hands up as if to say "don't look at me", and clambered off the bed.

She ran down the spiral staircase that curved around the entrance hall of the house. The frosted glass obscured the dark image on the other side, and Ziva proceeded with caution, pulling a gun from the drawer of the entrance table, where keys and other random items were strewn. She pulled open the door quickly, and was shocked when she saw who was at the door.

"Aba?"

The dark figure flanked by two Mossad officers as his protection detail stood uncomfortably in front of the huge house. One of them was Malachi. He had been a loyal supporter of Eli from when he was just a desk jockey, and right now he looked around nervously. He was not comfortable with his boss being in such an unguarded place in the middle of the day. Sure, it was only a school, but this was no ordinary school. This school boasted of the offspring of some of the highest earning men and women in the world, business men and surgeons. But among them, there were sons and daughters of politicians and military men who knew of Eli David and did not approve of his controversial actions. This was not a safe place to be.

To add to Malachi's feeling of unease, he had once been good friends with Ziva. When they were younger, and Malachi was just starting out as a Mossad operative, and Eli was not yet as powerful as he was today, one of Malachi's first tasks was protection detail for Ziva and Talia. At first, he dreaded the job, looking after the two daughters of the up and coming new face of Mossad. The children were most probably spoilt brats, and he did not expect what he got.

On the day that he had arrived at the tender age of eighteen, he had showed the officers at the door his badge, one that he would have never admit that he pulled out of his pocket in front of the mirror on a number of occasions after just receiving it, just to practise. He had entered the room of the safe house, and had seen one of the two sisters. He was glad that it was the younger of the two that he had encountered, as he figured that the younger was going to be the easier to deal with. However, before he could reach out and tap the child on the shoulder, he felt the cold point of a knife digging into the base of his neck.

"Touch her and die," a steely voice said, "turn around, slowly."

Malachi put his hands up, as if to indicate that he was innocent and turned around slowly, cursing himself. It was just his luck that the day he was given a routine job, it would be not so routine, and he was going to get the daughters of Eli David killed. How did this person get past the guards outside. Maybe they were all dead, and he had been too worried about dealing with two children to notice. Dammit.

He had made a complete turn, when he released a breath. It was not man from a foreign agency that wanted the child hostage. It was no assassin who was going to kill him, then the girls. It was Ziva David, the second of the two David children. However, she was still pointing a knife at him, holding with an uncanny skill and had not moved.

"Who are you?" she asked, her ten-year old hands not wavering under the familiar weight of the weapon.

"Officer Ben-Gidon Ma'am," he said. The more polite he was, maybe she would stop looking at him like she was going to kill him.

"You got any ID to prove that?" she asked coldly, and unbelieving. Malachi was struck by her untrusting manner. She was a ten year old girl, at the age where she should be playing with dolls and laughing, was wielding a knife with such uncanny skill. It was terrifying.

"Left inside shirt pocket," Malachi said. He was not stupid. If he made a false move, who knew what that kid would do to him? He liked his balls the way they were, thank you…

"Get them. With your left hand," Ziva said, and Malachi complied. How did this kid know to make the suspect reach with their left hand, as the large percentage of the population was right handed?

When Malachi had shown her the credentials, she lowered the knife and put it back in her waist.

"Pleased to meet you, Officer Ben-Gidon," Ziva said coolly, as if the past few minutes had not happened, "as you were."

Malachi turned to Tali, who smiled at him, and tried to forget what had just happened.

The years passed, and slowly Ziva began to slowly accept his presence. For some reason he always seemed to be assigned to the family whenever they were placed in protective custody (and with Eli's job being as volatile as it was, it was practically a monthly occurrence…) and seemed to be around them more than Eli was. Ziva began to see him as her companion, and ever though she was eight years his junior she made up for it with her quick wit and mature attitude. That was, until he saw her again.

He had been aware that she had gone to train as an operative, her sister Tali had told her that much. However, he was not prepared for the change that also came.

It had been a year since he had seen her, and Malachi knew that she was returning home that evening. He was, as always, protecting (or to him it felt more like playing with) Tali, so he was also there. He heard the door click open and Tali ran out of the room, knowing exactly who it was.

"ZIVAA!"

Tali ran down the stairs and launched herself into her sister's arms, and Malachi followed her out of the door at a more leisurely pace. And he stopped in his tracks when he saw it.

Gone was the little girl who had threatened him with machete when they had first met. Instead, there stood a woman. Her wiry frame had filled out with muscle, and Malachi knew that he had the army training to thank for that. He previously unruly curls (he had been the one to help her brush them when she was a kid. He knew her hair) was not as… puffy as it was, instead the curls were beautifully arranged. And her face was more heart-shaped and womanly. And her body…

Malachi was pulled out of his gaping by her voice.

"Hello Malachi," she said. Her voice had changed, it wasn't as high pitched and whiney, more sultry and soft.

"Ziva," he answered, as soon as he could form a coherent sentence. Granted, it was only one word.

She walked over to him and pulled him into a hug, and Malachi grinned. And then he thought about this. He was lusting after his boss' daughter. This was never a good move.

From that moment on, there had been something more between them. It was never fully resolved, but there was always chemistry and a heat that passed between them at all times. It was the only constant that Ziva seemed to have in her life, (the other only constant being change).

Back in the present Eli replied.

"Shalom, Ziva."

"Shalom father. Malachi," Ziva replied.

There was an awkward silence where neither of the two parties knew what to say. And Tony chose that moment to walk down the stairs.

"Honey, who is it?" he said, and he stopped in his tracks. And the army at the door were equally surprised. After all, it was not every day they got a glimpse of Anthony DiNozzo in his shorts and nothing else.  
>After everyone had recovered, Eli spoke.<p>

"Ziva, what is the meaning of this."

When Ziva did not reply, Tony filled the silence.

"Well this is awkward."  
>All pairs of eyes turned to glare at him. Which was terrifying, seeing as one pair belonged to his girlfriend, one to his girlfriend's father, and two pairs of Mossad officers. And Tony did not miss the way that that Malachi guy was looking Ziva. He moved closer to her, and glared right back at them all, as if to say "and what are you going to do about this".<p>

"Ziva, are you seeing this boy?" Eli asked, his voice low and threatening. Tony could see Ziva stiffen a little, but her resolve did not waver.

"I am, father. And you can do nothing to stop it."  
>"I am your father. I can do whatever I want to you," Eli said, getting angry very quickly.<p>

Tony was about to jump to Ziva's defence when another voice cut in.

"She is eighteen, Director. There is nothing you can legally do," Malachi said. Eli glared at him, and Malachi gulped. This was the man who employed him. He could fire him in seconds, and kill him just as easily. But this was Ziva, and Malachi would do anything for him.

"You are not a citizen of this country. You cannot stay here without my power," Eli snapped back.

"Then I will marry her," Tony said, and all of them fell silent. Even Tony was shocked at what he had just said. But thinking over it, he would not have said anything different if he could turn back time and do it all again.

"Do you mean it?" Ziva asked, once she had regained control of her voice box. And Tony nodded.

"Without a doubt," he said and Ziva smiled a pure unadulterated smile right back at him. Malachi stood in the background awkwardly.

"We really should go, Director," he said, and Eli turned to glare at him. And then he glared at his watch. And then glared back at Malachi.

"This is not over," he said, and with those, he swooped off into the sedan evil-villain style.

Ziva turned to Malachi.

"Thank you," she said, and she walked towards him and hugged him. She closed her eyes, revelling in the familiarity of his smell and touch. She was so wrapped up in the feeling that she didn't notice the glaring match that was going on above her head.

Tony knew that Malachi was a good man, he had stood by Ziva, and that was all it took. However, he did not appreciate the fact that he was so clearly enjoying it way too much. That and the fact that Tony had never heard about Malachi before that day made him less than friendly.

When Ziva turned around after Malachi had stepped into the car she began to talk.

"Tony, I'm sorry fo-" she said, but when she turned around Tony was not there. She must have been so wrapped up in M- Oh. There lay her problem.

She walked into the house and closed the door, calling Tony's name as she went. She found him in the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of water. He drank in steadily, and Ziva watched his throat move as the water made its way down his oesophagus. When he had done he placed him glass in the sink and leaned against the sink.

The silence that fell on the room was almost painful, until Tony broke it. Looking back, Ziva would have wished that he had not broken it. The words that were to come were even more painful than that silence.

"I tell you I want to marry you, and you spend three minutes in the arms of another man?"  
>"Tony, Malachi and I are not like that. We-"<p>

Tony cut her off.

"Then why have I not heard of him until today."

"Tony, I-" but Ziva could not think of the words to say.

"Why is it that it's always me doing the work in the relationship? I had to be the first to say I love you, I had to be the one who said I wanted to marry you. And then I find out about some mysterious stranger who looked like he was having _way_ to much fun holding you," Tony said, turning from his place and coming closer to her, his voice rising in volume with every step that he took.

"You have got it all wrong," Ziva started but she was cut off.

"Yeah! Well explain, because I sure as hell want to know what is going on!" Tony said, his soft voice as threatening, even more than if he was yelling.

"He was a childhood friend, nothing more!" Ziva said quietly.

"Then explain why he looked at you like that," Tony shot back. Ziva closed her eyes, willing the tears that were building up behind her eyes not to fall. She could feel them burning behind her lids, but she did not want them to fall. Not now, not ever.

Ziva took a deep breath.

"When we were younger, he admitted that he had feelings for me," Ziva said. Tony was working hard to keep his expression neutral, but he wasn't doing a very good job.

"Go on," Tony said. Even though each word felt like a physical stab to his heart, he walked to know the whole story. He needed to know the whole story.

"He tried to convince me that we could make a relationship work, but I kept turning him down."

Silence.

"Please say something," Ziva said, her voice cracking. She would have never thought she could be begging Tony to do anything for her. And yet there they were.

"What do you want me to say," Tony said. But instead of sounding angry he sounded defeated. And Ziva hated herself for it.

"I love you," she blurted out before she could stop herself, "please, don't leave me."

One of the tears fell from the corner of her eye, and she wiped it away quickly. She was not quick enough, and Tony saw it.

"Hey," he said, closing the distance between them and wrapping her in his arms, "I'm not leaving you," he took a deep breath, calming himself. He had made his ninja cry, and that was not an easy fete. And he was not proud of himself. "I'm sorry I got mad."

Ziva buried her head deeper in his arms, rubbing her cheek against his bare chest. He was so much for huggable than Malachi, and when Malachi smelt of familiarity and home, Tony smelt of the man that she wanted. The man she needed. Maybe if she had not met Tony she would have ended up with Malachi, purely because of the stability that he represented. But now things were different. Not she had met Tony , and he had changed her life.

"I am sorry I made you cry," Tony continued, and Ziva shook her head, her hair tickling his chest.

"No," she said, "it is I who am sorry."

Tony smiled, and suddenly all was right again. Ziva may have an uncertain past, one full of mystery that he may never fully understand. But for now, she was there, in his arms. She loved him, and he loved her. There was nothing else that mattered.

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><p><strong><em> wow. you still reading? i love you. seriously. :D<em>**

**_ps. forgot to add, but i am on holiday starting tomorrow, and the middle of no-where does not boast of the best internet connection, so sorry if updates aren't constant for the next two weeks! :( :)_**


	34. Chapter 34

**_errmmm... yeah... hey. if you still remember me..._**

**_i have been on holiday for the past two weeks, so apologies for the lack of updates. I am off again in two days, so i really wanted to upload this quickly. I have tried to incorporate all your suggestions, but sometimes it is difficult when they are so different.. I am really sorry that I cannot do all of them :(_**

**_shoutout to LivyRox who wanted more McAbby, and is dedicated as a late birthday present to one of my guest reviewers who wanted some family stuff as a birthday present. i hope you had a wonderful day! :)_**

**_DISCLAIMER: not mine. _**

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><p><em>Chapter 34- I know there is more important things, but don't forget to remember me<em>

"OhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygoshOhmy goshOhmygosh!" Abby muttered under her breath as she paced the form room, note cards clutched in her hands, willing the colourful facts to imprint themselves into the backs of her eyelids. The murky green carpet stained by years of food and goodness knows what else was swimming under her feet, her mind trying to process the motion and the facts in her head at the same time. The ramble of chatter coming from her class, as most of them desperately tried to cram the facts into their knowledge in a last minute style. There was a sense of excited panic and urgency in the air, as facts and figures flew across the room in and endless battle between student and textbook (the textbook was winning). However, all this was lost on Abby, who was stuck in her own little turbulent bubble, in which the only things that mattered were the notes in front of her, and keeping the contents of her stomach in her stomach. Both of these things combined with the strange smell of the classroom that could not be removed, no matter how many students tried to mask it with their deodorant (and they had tried) made Abby feel ever sicker to the stomach.

This was it. Her first exam, the first one of four that she was sitting this term. Ziva and Sarah were not in school, neither of them did this A-level, so there she was, all by herself stressing her butt off. She was pacing the floor at the back of the classroom, trying to block out the noises of the rest of the class desperately trying to cram for those last few minutes before the exam. The warmth of the room was suffocating her, as the sun beat down making the room feel like a greenhouse. It would be the hottest day of the year on the day when she was taking her exams. She had long since given up the dignity that was wearing her jumper, instead taking it off in favour of being cool. Unfortunately, that meant exposing her extremely unattractive green and yellow striped school shirt. Idly wondering about which imbecile thought of this colour coding? Probably the same one who had designed this building, as she admired the stained blue and orange walls and the faded green carpet… she mentally shook herself, reminding her of why she was there, and why the rabble behind her was stressing their butts off.

Her phone rang loudly, alerting her off a phone call and drawing her out of her revision. She was about to ignore the call when she glanced at the screen and the display picture, seeing the picture of her and Tim at the park with Tiva, both grinning their faces off.

"Hey Abby," McGee said once Abby had picked up the phone, "I hope you aren't stressing too much…."

"It's OK for you to say that, Mr "photographic memory"!" Abby said, her voice breaking as her pitch steadily increased throughout the sentence, as she felt the stress getting to her, "and stop grinning at me through the phone!"

McGee chuckled at her, doing to complete opposite to what Abby had ordered him to do.

"Well I was just ringing you to say good luck, not that you need it, and I will see you on the other side," Tim said, and it was only then when Abby realised that he was doing this exam, and probably as stressed out as she was.  
>"Thanks Timmybear! Good luck to you too!" Abby said. She felt guilty for not being the one to call him to give him her good wishes, but that was Tim. Always the gentleman, and chivalrous to the point of being annoying at times.<p>

Abby knew that Ziva and Tony preferred to revise together, (although she was cynical about the amount of revision that was actually getting done…). However, Abby was the kind of person who could not revise with anyone else in the room. It was just her and her music in this time. And Tim had been so understanding, never intruding on her time, always accepting that they could not meet up because she was too busy revising. And what had she done in repayment? She had forgotten that he was under the same pressure that she was under, if not more. His mother had always had high hopes for him, and even though he knew it was all out of love, it did not mean that the expectation was not daunting.

"Talk to you later. I'll pick you up after the exam outside the blue gates," Tim said, and with plans to meet up for a celebratory coffee after the ordeal was over, they both rang of.

Abby slid back down into a seat, a smile on her face. She no longer felt the need to pace and revise, Tim having unwittingly told her that she was going to do fine, and she was not going to forget or learn something new, so she might as well chill out about it. It was amazing how Tim could calm her down so quickly. He was better than any kind of drug, all she needed to get her fix was her Tim. The rest was nothing…

oooOOOooo

The clock ticked obnoxiously as if mocking the students, reminding them of every second that they were required to wait before they were allowed to open up the paper in front of them. Rows of chairs and neatly lined up tables stretched for as far as the eye could see, urgent messages of "help!?" carved into the desks over the years, never fading, but more ticks and sad faces being added to the collection. Mr Beasley peered at the clock, determined to start them off at _exactly _the right time.

After what felt like a lifetime to them, he finally deemed that the second hand was in exactly the right place, so he finally said those words that they were all desperate to hear.

"It is now ten thirty-five. You have two hours and thirty minutes. You may begin," he said finally, and there was a desperate scramble as all thirty of them practically tore open the paper, eager to grasp every single second that they could to answer the questions to the best of their ability. All those conditional offers for universities hung in this proverbial balance. The ink staining this page would determine whether they were going to _that_ medical school, in _that_ city. This school was one of the most academically astute institutions in the country, so many of the girls sat in those chairs were the next generation of doctors, surgeons and cures for cancer. But for now, all that mattered was that they were taking _that_ exam in _that_ moment to get _that_ result. And they would not achieve what they were capable of if this all went horribly wrong.

Abby stared at the question scanning the words over and over again, the words not registering until the third time that she read it. This must be a trick question, surely. Why would they put such a question in this exam? Why would they put something this easy?

All around people looked down at the question equally shocked. However, there was dismay in their expressions. They had never encountered this in any past papers! They had never been taught this¬ Never had they _ever _been asked any questions about forensic use in criminology.

While the rest of the year was committing suicide in their heads, Abby's pen was moving so fast, it was surprising that there was no trail of fire on her page, following her writing as it made the intricate twists and turns of ever letter. She wrote and wrote, until she felt her right hand seize up in pain. However, all she did was switch to use her left hand. She marveled at how the average person could survive without being ambidextrous.

The rest of the exam past with no other amazing revelation, as Abby found the rest of the paper hard but not impossible. This was a good thing, as if it was easy, the grade boundaries would be high and difficult to achieve. So all in all it was not as bad as she had feared. One down, five to go…

oooOOOooo

"Pass the potatoes?" Jenny asked, and plates were exchanged between hands until finally the desired item was placed in them. The sun was languidly moving across the sky, as if it knew that it would have to set at some point, but in no hurry to do such thing. So still despite the hour it shone brightly through the huge windows of the headmistress' house, and into the dining room where they were all sat eating. The chatter and noise filled the whole house, as plates were passed around, and conversation punctuated by laughter slung between people. Jenny scooped a generous portion onto her plate, fully aware that if she did not take them now they would be gone in minutes. It had been bad enough with Ziva and Gibbs in the house, with both of them, there was never _ever _enough coffee in the house. Now with Tony with them for evenings when he was "studying" with Ziva for the upcoming exams, and Gibbs comfortable enough with his situation with Jenny to invite his niece along to family meals (which meant that McGee's presence was another constant), food went so fast Jenny feared that she would be eaten out of house and home. There was no way that she could have known that by taking in her estranged god-daughter after a flaming row with her father she would unknowingly adopt so many others into her family. But she would not have it any other way. It felt like an eternity ago when she had first got the house, when she had just started her job as headmistress. The huge house felt barren and terribly lonely, with silences that swallowed her into resorting to bourbon to keep her warm at night. Now, the silence was a distance memory, what with the noise that they all brought with them.

"So how was your exam today?" Jenny asked, as silence finally fell on the rowdy bunch. They had finally been conquered by the delicious food in front of them, the only thing that seemed to be able to silence them for long periods of time.

"iwaagooodd," Abby mumbled, her mouth full with mashed potatoes, and her eyes shining with enthusiasm.

"Abbs, chew, then talk," Gibbs scolded lightly, and Abby complied.

"It went good!" she said finally and Gibbs nodded, happy for her. A comfortable buzz of chatter descended on the room, all the "kids" talking among themselves. Jenny took the time to watch Gibbs as he exchanged conversation with the young ones

At that moment he was listening attentively to Abby, as she went into great detail about the exam that she had just sat. Jenny knew that under normal circumstances Jethro would not care less about the combination of science as well as sociology, and how it helped to aid forensics used in crime scene investigation when forensics was still at its infancy. However, Abby was telling him all about it, and just like an attentive father he listened to her and her account. Jenny could not help but feel drawn to him by this. Not only was Gibbs amazingly attractive physically, he had a humility and kind demeanor that Jenny saw whenever he had to talk to the kids, or just even in the way he treated people in general. Although most people knew him as the CCF instructor, the strict no-nonsense marine, she knew that every boy that came through the heavy doors of the CCF centre Gibbs treated with respect and love, even though to some it may transmit as anger. And with every day spent with this man Jenny felt herself falling further and further into the terrifying chasm that was true love.

It was hard not to love this man. He came with many shadows and a past which some would shy away from. But Jenny's past was not exactly perfect, and as she had once told Jethro in one of the more intimate moments as they lay together on the couch, her shadows liked his shadows.

Jenny then turned to Tony and Ziva, or "Tiva" as Abby had taken to calling them (wait until Abby found out how they called her and Tim "McAbby"…) who were laughing together about something that Tony had said. Jenny could see the way that Tony looked at her god-daughter, and even a blind man would be able to see that Tony was head over heels in love with her. Even though she had her doubts about young love, Jenny had to admit that there was definitely something more that lust between them. And Jenny wished them all the best for the future, as most people looked for most of their lives until the right person walked into their life. They had seemed to find it very early on, and for that she was happy. At that current moment in time Tony was pulling his mobile out of his pocket.

"Tony! No phones at the dinner table!" Jenny said, "do I have to get the basket out?"

The basket, as it had been named by the kids, was a small straw tub that Jenny occasionally waved under Jethro's nose, and with a commanding glared got him to surrender his phone into it. And when Gibbs felt like he had to suffer, he passed it round and every person had so surrender all the electronic devices that they had on the person, to be claimed at a later time. It had been comical to see the look on McGee's face as he asked if by say all electronics, she meant _**all **_electronics. Jenny just had to give him a look, and he had proceeded to empty his pockets of everything electrical that he carried. They were there for ten minutes. It was not fun.

"I'm good!" Tony said, and slid his phone back into his pocket. He turned to Ziva who was giving him a look. "What?"

Ziva just rolled her eyes at him and went back to her meal. Jenny laughed at the two of them. They were like an old married couple. In weird creepy but totally normal way. But this was their family. Their weird, is slightly dysfunctional family…

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><p><strong><em>so please make my day and press that little button. and maybe hit a few letters on your keypad, which could turn into a word, and them maybe a couple of words could make a sentence? :D<em>**


	35. Chapter 35

_**Hello people! if you still remember me...**_

_**just got back from a weeks holiday, so this chapter was pretty rushed :/ i still hope that you liked it! and i am so sorry that it is so short. I'm a bit iffy about how this has turned out, so your opinion is as needed as ever. **_

_**DISCLAIMER: not mine. :)**_

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><p>Chapter 35- take a deep breath as you walk through the door…<p>

The hot lights signaling from the balcony burned bright and harshly in her eyes as she stepped onto the polished wooden floor of the stage. From the wings she could see the audience sitting on the school benches, all waiting for the pinnacle next moment. She could feel her stage make-up seeping into her pores the stuff thick over her already tan face. But that was not what was bothering her. Far from it, it was the least important thing on her mind. No, what was monopolizing her thought were the creatures in her stomach. The butterflies had evolved into grossly obese elephant, which were ceilidh-dancing around her digestive system with great gusto, clearly not caring for her feelings or opinions. She took a deep breath and…

_3 hours earlier_

Ziva tried to swallow a bite of her burger, but apparently her body had other plans. Her throat did not seem to understand the benefits of eating something at that current moment in time. Her mind was perfectly aware that it was a logical and clever thing to do, to stock up on energy before the big performance. Her Mossad training had taught her that little. However, her body was seemingly unable to stomach the meal. She looked over at Tony who was sitting next to her on one of the fluorescent yellow chairs at the crowded fast-food chain. Apparently a lack of appetite as not an issue for all of them.

"You are aware that the food will not disappear if you wait to swallow the food you have in your mouth before putting even more in?" she snapped, watching as Tony wolfed down a supersized portion of burger and chips. She was talking loudly, trying to make herself heard over the din of the fast-food chain. The bright red and yellow walls seemed to magnify the sound, as what seemed like the entire cast had made their way to the place in the hour that they had in which to get dinner. What made the situation even more entertaining was the fact that many of them had not bothered to change out of their costume, knowing that they would have to put it straight back on again. Therefore, the restaurant was filled with what appeared to be men and women from regency England, tight corsets and breeches as far as the eye could see. All of whom were ordering meals and eating their meals of trays perched on bright red tables. It was quite a sight…

"What? Practice makes my hungry…" Tony mumbled, and Ziva let that one go. It had been true, they had spent the entire morning in the drama studio rehearsing, and then the afternoon under the hot lights on the stage as the light and sound crew got on with their business. But Ziva could not help but think that Tony had gotten off lightly. He had spent the afternoon in a shirt and breeches (which hugged his figure nicely, something that Ziva appreciated…). However, Ziva had spent the second half of the day in a floor length ball gown. At first, her five-year old girl had squealed in delight at wearing such a beautiful piece of clothing. It was a deep blue piece, tightly wrapped around her upper body with full puffed capped sleeves, and a thick full skirt made 3D with layers of mesh beneath the outer material. However, after the eighth time of being told that she was not allowed to rack up the skirt above her ankles to make movement possible, she was ready to shed the item in favour of her trusty khaki shorts. She would have never survived in the 19th century and she had decided that despite the distant glamour that period seemed to hold, she was perfectly content in this century.

Back in the present Ziva just rolled her eyes at his actions and Tony went back to shoveling his food into his open mouth.

"If you vomit on stage I will disown you as a partner," Ziva mumbled, going back to picking at her chips.

"So I am your partner?" Tony joked, but from the way he put down his burger, Ziva could tell that things were getting serious. Tony did not give up his food (or time that could be spent _eating _his food) for nothing.

Ziva idled for a few moments, not quite ready to give an answer yet. She picked up a chip and chewed at it, but out of the corner of her eye she could see Tony giving her a look.

"What?!" she said. When he said nothing, but continued to stare at her, she sighed. But instead of answering his question, she asked one of her own.

"Are you not?"

"Well yes, but-"

"But what?" Ziva cut in quickly.

Tony paused for a moment, "But I am glad that you acknowledge it," he said finally, and Ziva smiled. She had always thought of him as her partner. The word "boyfriend" seemed too immature, too "mine is better that yours". Partner seemed more, mature, more permanent. And permanence was something that she really needed in her life.

"So," Tony said, deciding that a change in subject to one less deep and meaningful was required, "you do know that you are going to do awesome tonight?"

Ziva raised her eyebrows and took a sip out of her milkshake disbelieving.

"You, I am certain, will charm that crowd, just as you charm any female over the age of ten," Ziva said.

"Am I sensing some jealousy, Miss David?" Tony teased, and Ziva faked a smile. Which of course Tony saw right through.

Casually he picked up his drink, taking a sip to think about what he was going to say next.

"Well I have to charm. All you have to do is walk into a room, and every man is on their knees at your feet," Tony said casually, and Ziva spat out the milkshake that she had in her mouth cartoon style. Tony was trying really hard to force back a laugh. She took a few moments to regain her composure.

"You're lying."

"Am not," Tony said childishly, and Ziva rolled her eyes again. She was always aware of the eyes of all the girls who followed _him_ when he stood up to go to the loo. She was dating him, of course she noticed how attractive he was. But her? Really?

She was going to continue with that train of thought when Tim and Abby banged their trays down next to them, not even asking if they were taken. As Tim was unloading their meals, Abby started talking at a hundred mile an hour.

"Hey guys! Are you nervous? I'm really nervous, and I'm only doing lighting, so I have no reason to be. But there was this one time when there was supposed to be a spotlight, and there wasn't, but then there was a really loud noise and the light had fallen onto someone in the audience. They had to be taken to h-"

"Abs, I don't think that they need to hear this…" Tim said, and Abby scowled at him, "you are just making them more nervous."

"I'm not nervous!" both of them said at once, before turning to the other and glaring. Abby looked as if she was about to die with the cuteness of the situation, whereas Tim just looked smug as could be, as if he had predicted the whole thing.

"Shut it, McSmartypants," Tony grumbled into his chips, and all three of them laughed. After all, if they could not laugh at Tony's misfortune what could they laugh at?

_Present _

Ziva had heard that the opening number went well, as well as it had been in practise, if not better than they had ever done it before. The chorus had sung their hearts out, and little Sam from year 7, the little boy who was as big a part as her and Tony had certainly won her heart over with his beautiful pitch perfect voice. However, the audience had not seen it that way. If anything they had been a hostile and indifferent group of people. One of her fellow actors had tried to explain the importance of the audience in such an event, to which she had laughed. She had never fully understood the whole notion. Until now. The audience hadn't laughed at the right places, and if they had ever laughed it was a small chuckle from one or two people. Not the reaction that they were going for. This made the tension and nerves mount up backstage, as the opening number was supposed to be the number that got them into the swing of the performance. This was not going well.

Zach, a nice boy in the year above gave her a reassuring smile behind the closed dark green curtain, and Ziva shot one back. She pretended to be confident, but inside she had never been more nervous. She examined the hard wood floor of the gym with seemingly idle indifference, but she could feel her mouth going dry, and her heart pumping loudly in her ears. The only thing that she could compare the feeling to was the first time she had made a kill. It had been the most terrifying moment in her life. But now, killing seemed like seemed like second nature. This, however, was terrifying. And then the curtains came up.

Ziva was so glad that her first scene involved her singing. Had she been talking, she would not have been able to keep the tremble out of her voice. But with a song she could somehow disguise it among the vibrato in her voice.

As Ziva sang she scanned the audience. Jenny and Gibbs sat together at one side of the room, Jenny giving her a proud smile when she looked their way. Even Gibbs nodded in acknowledgement, but Ziva knew that he was proud of her no matter what his out ward appearance may say. He was more of a father than Eli had ever been, and was her father in every way other than the biological. She was also fully aware that Tim sat with Abby in the balcony, both of them helping with the lighting and the technical aspects of the performance. But there was one face that Ziva noticed was not present. She had always known that he would have not turned up at the performance. But why did it feel so painful to see that Eli David was not there?

By the end of Ziva's song the audience had warmed up a little, and the clap that she had got at the end was unexpected. Ziva ran of the stage, before breaking out a huge smile. Tony was waiting for her in the wings, and he gave her a wide eyed thumbs-up, and an overenthusiastic musical theatre smile. She rolled her eyes, but was glad that he was there to provide some reassurance that she had done a good job.

The rest of the performance went as a blur to Ziva, and it seemed like a time itself had been messed with throughout the course of the evening. The time needed for the costume changes felt too short, and the time before she went on stage when she was waiting in the wings for her lines seemed to stretch out in front of like an endless chasm. But the final song was looming ever closer, and then it would all be over. She had waited for this moment, and she could not keep the thoughts at bay, the ones that told her that she could mess this up in just a heartbeat. She pushed these negative thoughts to the side and took a breath. And then she sang.

Tony was there on stage waiting for her. He was singing his bit, and when she came on stage his smile lit up. Ziva had a suspicion that it was not part of his character, but just him, Tony DiNozzo, being happy to see her, Ziva David. She was staring into his eyes, and just as Cynthia had told her, everything went on autopilot. It was a good thing that she had known her song as well as she did, as she was able to concentrate her efforts on getting to Tony without tripping over her own feet.

And there she was. She all but feel into his arms, and the audience sighed at the unadulterated love that they saw in the two characters. What they did not know was that this was who they really were. It was ironic that they were at their most truthful when they were busy being other people. But all that mattered to Ziva was not other people's opinions. It was the fact that she was there. Safe in his arms. She was as oblivious to that as she was to everything else in the world. So oblivious that she had not even noticed that the song had ended. Had she really just sung the difficult harmony part that she could never remember, and that had taken her weeks to learn on auto pilot? She grinned hugely, and Tony tightened his arms around her. Then the curtains closed around them, just as they sealed their lips together in a joyful and ecstatic kiss.

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><p><strong><em>we are coming to the end of this school year! just a few more chapters to go! thank you soooooooooo much for reading this far! :D<em>**


	36. Chapter 36

**_Hello my wonderfully amazing readers!_**

**_So here it is! The final chapter in this tale. I am sad to see the end of this, and I really hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. You lot are seriously epic. This is my first fanfic, and yet it feels like I have been writing forever. You guys have made me feel so welcome on this site, and you are amazing. Thank you to (this is going to be a long list.):_**

**_Sweet potatoes, fayloveskaty, NCIS FTW (_**_one of my most faithful reviewers_**_), tivaandmcabby (_**_ditto that_**_), Someoneslove (_**_ditto ditto :D_**_), LivyRox (_**_who joined onto this ride later, but still reviewed faithfully_**_), NCISNumber1Fan (_**_who also is one of my most faithful reviewers_**_), ILoveTiva/MegpieLovesTiva _**_(who changed their name halfway through…_**_), TivaIsMyWorld, ZivaPrentiss, ShadowEar _**_(ditto AND was my first __EVER__ reviewer! I bet you don't remember that…_**_) , ShadowNoEar (_**_wait. Hold on. I only just got that!_**_), Robern, Tanya, . , CestTuSavais, Tivafivanatomy, Caskett 4eva _**_(again, a faithful reviewer_**_), ncisXpsych12345 (_**_I'm sorry I made you crave pizza._**_), xoAllysonHannah (_**_who despite the initial misunderstanding continued reading_**_), Lianna-snow, AmeeThePercabethLover, ziva-adaleh (_**_another faithful reader_**_), Miss Suave (_**_ditto_**_), Abbi4Raie _**_(ditto ditto_**_), Tiva4eva95, fantasygeek101, MTGZ, Tivalover4ever, easylion, Anybodysdaughter, suncursed (_**_who I love, because they made an account just to favourite this story :D_**_), Ari's NCIS Girl, Zivalover, detectiveKBecks, xWellJustMex , ADR1989 (_**_are you and ADR the same person? :__P_**_), shesstillwaitingtony, K8 G.H. Ducey (_**_loyal reviewer_**_), Tiva-is-life, Tivalover4ever, EowynGoldberry, The-Sun-Princess, adreamawishawonder, MissJess13, WriterUnexpected, Mixuuhh, SashaElizabeth, Zivalover, Jess, Sarah0203, juli, ChEmMiE, 5H4M1R4, Thelaura93, ncisfan, DiNOTZzo, ncis42, archangelo, TIVAforthewin, iliketrees _**_(interesting name…_**_), ZivaLover123, Marcist…_**

**_…and you. Yes you! The one who is reading this right now! Your support means the world._**

**_So here it is! This is the longest chapter to date! A very short epilogue will follow, but here is the beginning of the end! Enjoy :D_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or High School Musical (you'll see why later…)_**

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><p><em>Chapter 36- LONG LIVE!<em>

The leavers' musical. Strategically placed after all the exams had ended, after all UCAS forms and BETECTS and every other member of the alphabet soup had been completed. Some may call it a waste of time. Others would call it an ingenious idea thought up to occupy the leavers after they had officially "left" school. Abby, however, called it the biggest mess that the school assembly hall had ever seen.

"Are you guys even listening to me?! I said step clap two three _then _clap! Not whatever elephant dance you lot seems to be doing?" Jeanne yelled out, standing on the stage yelling at the hall full of sixth formers, all more inclined to mess around than learn the dance. Jeanne and a few others who had nominated themselves to organise the whole musical (what of kind of democracy was this?) were glaring down at the rabble in front of them. With the boys down from their school it was chaos, and Abby was just glad that she wasn't such a major part.

Abby didn't mind the dancing so much. Sure, she wasn't as talented and gifted as say, Ziva, but she was capable of learning the moves, and had pretty much got the whole thing down. She always knew that her memory would serve her well when it came to this kind of thing. However, there were some people who were struggling with the whole thing. For example, there was Tim.

"Remind me why I'm here again?" McGee grumbled at Abby, as they were stopped yet again for someone who had put a foot out of line.

"Because this is fun! Haven't you dreamt about this since year seven?" Abby replied, as hyped up and enthusiastic as ever.

"No actually, I haven't…" McGee answered and Abby rolled her eyes. That was the problem with these people. Most of them did not want to be there. It was a fact that Jeanne and her other cronies, who knew nothing about musicals seeing as the only one with any talent, who she grudgingly admitted, walked out of the only performing opportunity that she had. Which left them in the mess that they were in.

"Tell you what," Abby said, loudly, them she leant closer to Tim, and whispered something in his ear that even the people next to him did not here. All they could see was Tim's ears turn pink around the edges, and his dance moves improved drastically since the beginning of the practise. Even if there was an expression saying "is that even possible" on his face…

Meanwhile on the other side of the hall Tony and Ziva stood, surrounded by the cast from the musical. Even though they were what an independent source had named as the most talented singers and dancers between the two schools, and worthy of parts in a huge production, clearly the self appointed committee disagreed. Therefore none of them were major parts in the musical, and weren't even working behind the scenes for choreography and other parts. But they were an easy going bunch, most actors were, so they were content in watching with vague amusement as Jeanne and her cronies tried (and failed) to control the masses. Plus, they had all come out of a serious production. They could use with the laughs.

As they relived the performance together, laughing at the mishaps, and the drama that had been part of real life rather than the play itself, Tony could see that Ziva was drifting off into her own world rather than join in the chatter. However, he did not get a chance to ask her about it when he heard;

"Hey Ms Sumners!"

The general calling pulled Tony and Ziva back out of their conversation. True to their calling, Cynthia had just walked into the hall. Cynthia sighed. She really had no idea what she was doing here. Curiosity had gotten the better of her, and after seeing that she had a free period, and knowing that the cast of the leavers musical (ie. The entire year) were in the hall, curiosity pushed her into going to visit the situation.

"Jeanne!" she called to the stage. Jeanne had been too busy yelling at some kid for forgetting that he was supposed to put his right pompom in the air _and then_ his left one, to notice who had entered the room.

"Hey Ms Sumners!" she said, and Cynthia forced herself to smile back. She had not fully forgiven her for the whole walking out on them incident with the musical. But clearly Jeanne was going to pretend that it had not happened.

"So, have you got anything that you can show me?"

"Well," Jeanne started, Cynthia could see the cogs in her mind turning to think up some explanation, "you know how it is with big casts…"

_Yeah, _Cynthia thought to herself, _and it doesn't help things when your lead walks out on you…_

However, aloud Cynthia just said, "yeah, I know the feeling. But anything is better than nothing so…"

Jeanne could see that she was not getting out of this one, so turned to her audience.

"OK, from the top!"

The music started on cue, and the group shuffled into their starting positions. From the crowd Cynthia could see the cast of her musical, all banded together and moving perfectly in-sync with the music and each other. Cynthia was surprised that they were all apparently just chorus members, not bigger parts. She would have certainly given them major parts. But this was not her show. The rest of the hall showed a vast spectrum of skill, from pockets of people moving the right way to those who digressed after the chorus (the only part they actually knew) to "free styling" the verses. It was… interesting. She knew for a fact that despite the strict school policy, many of the pupils were bound to turn up to performance night in varying degrees of intoxication. If this was how they performed sober, than she daren't think how they would perform on the night.

"Well," Cynthia said after an awkward pause, Jeanne waiting to hear praise, "I see you have a lot of work to do. I look forward to Thursday."

Cynthia smiled and swept out of the hall, her inner teenage girl satisfied with the talk.

oooOOOooo

4 days later

The one and only performance of the leavers musical was going to get underway in approximately 15 minutes. Backstage people ran around desperately searching for props and stage makeup. However Abby and Ziva seemed immune to this. Each friendship group were a different "clique", so there were Goths and jocks and cheerleaders. After all, a production of High School Musical would not be the same without them.

Ziva, Abby, Tim and Tony had all been landed with the geek clique, and Abby seemed to have embraced it with great joy. Her hair was up in their signature bunches, and she had a huge pair of nerd glasses on, making her eyes look even bigger and brighter than usual. She had dungarees and fluorescent suspenders on top of a plain white shirt. However, her usual Abby style had not been completely obliterated; she still had her black cross necklace with the red jewel in the middle. Ziva, much to the surprise of everyone who passed her had also been wrestled into bunches, lower down that Abby's but still bunches all the same. She also had a pair of nerd glasses on her eyes, and behind the thick frames Abby could see her eyes dart around in search for the boys. Abby joined in the search looking in the opposite direction. And then she spotted them.

Tony and Tim, along with Palmer were walking towards them, their geek costumes a little, different. Each of them wore fluorescent boxers and lab coats and nerd glasses. And nothing else.

Wordlessly Abby poked Ziva to get her attention, her voice not up to voicing her amazement. Dutifully Ziva turned around. And stared.

"Wow," Abby said reverently, eyeing McGee's scantily clad body.

"I agree," Ziva said, staring at Tony's physique. And then she noticed Palmer, "wait, since when did Palmer have a six pack?"

It was only then that Abby peeled her eyes away from her Timmy to look at Palmer. And what a surprise she got.

Neither of them had considered that there was a six-pack under all of that nerdiness. And yet, there it was, as clear as day, for all to see. The girls who were passing them in the hallway certainly appreciated it.

"Wow Jimmy, I'm impressed!" Abby said as the boys all drew near enough to hear them. McGee raised his eyebrows indignantly. Had she not noticed him?

Abby turned to Tim, "but I'm sorry, you will never be able to compete with my Timmy."

And just like that, Tim's world was righted again. Palmer smiled at the compliment, disregarding the final piece of information because he could.

Abby turned to hear Ziva's opinion, but stopped as soon as she saw Tiva so deep in their own little world that the conversation had not registered with them.

Ziva walked up to Tony and boldly looped her arms around his waist.

"I like the boxers," she said, a cheeky grin on her face.

"Oh yeah?" Tony asked, his voice dropping a few octaves as he leant closer to her, before capturing her lips in his, gently pulling at her hair to put her head exactly as they both wanted. However, his lips on her were less than gentle, tugging at her lips, both soothing and gentle yet insistent and longing. He ran his fingers through her hair, and Ziva pulled at his boxers in an attempt to bring him closer to her. His tongue dove into her mouth, taking and conquering, making Ziva weak at the knees with the passion that pulsed through both of them.

"Errmmm… guys?" Abby said, the pause becoming too long and awkward. However all Ziva did was extract one of her hands from Tony's body and make a rude gesture at her with it. They would have gone on for much longer if they hadn't heard it.

"DINOZZO!"

Ziva and Tony broke away from each other quickly and turned to see the source of the noise. Walking towards each other were Gibbs and Jenny, with a distance between them to look professional. But the four of them knew otherwise.

"Hey Gibbs!" Abby bounded up to her favourite uncle and kissed him on the cheek. Gibbs smiled at her, but glared at Tony, who at least had the decency to look sheepishly down at the ground.

"We're just here to say good luck for tonight, and don't get too drunk after," Jenny said, filling in the gaps to Gibbs' sparse dialogue. There was a mix of "thank you!"s and "we would never!" (courtesy of Tony), and with that she and Gibbs left. But none of them missed how when they thought they were out of sight Jenny drifted closer to Gibbs, and Gibbs put his hand territorially in her back bum pocket. The wolf whistles that followed told them that they were not fully out of sight.

Jenny sat in the audience, not knowing whether she found this ghastly or amusing. Some of the parts were played with immaculate precision and skill. However, clearly half the cast was intoxicated, so it was hilarious to see them lose their inhibitions and truly let go. It was the last group number, and all of the year was gathered on the stage. Jenny could see familiar faces among the crowd, Tony with his arm slung around Ziva's shoulder, Abby with McGee. And, of course there were people like Jeanne and EJ who were hanging off some "jocks". Yet, as far as leavers musicals, this was not actually that bad. The majority of the cast were moving in time, at the same time, and the music was very good. All in all, a good night, and something that they could be proud of. That was, if they remembered the night at all. Which would be difficult, if they were, say, as drunk as EJ and Jeanne.

After the performance, backstage everyone was hugging and giving flowers and generally having a laugh. Ziva and Tony were in the thick of it, and were so lost in the festivities that they did not notice the first few times when someone was poking Ziva to get her attention.

Eventually, she noticed.

"Hey Jardine!" Ziva said, too happy to remove the grin that was plastered on her face. Tony also turned around, as if on autopilot to listen.

"Hello. I hate to alarm you, but there are some men outside looking for you. And one told me to tell you that it was Malachi?" Jardine said, raising her voice to be heard over the noise. She didn't seem to be too comfortable with the raucous gaggle, and her eyes kept darting around nervously, as if a giant virus was about to come and attack her.

Ziva looked quizzically at Jardine but nodded and thanked her. She grabbed Tony's arm and together they made their way to the door.

Out in the cool night Ziva shivered in her costume. She hoped that this would be quick, so she could return to the warmth indoors. They scanned the surroundings, but then they saw them.

Eli David, flanked by Malachi and another Mossad officer.

"Ziva," Eli said curtly. He made no attempt to hide the look of mild disgust and amusement at Tony's lack of dress.

"Abba," Ziva replied in an equally curt tone, "what are you doing here?"

"Is it not normal for fathers to attend such events?" Eli answered, and Ziva all but rolled her eyes. Could he not just say that he wanted to, or that he was proud of her? He had to make it sound like some kind of moral obligation.

"I have to say, it was… interesting," he continued, and Ziva grit her teeth. Now he was insulting her. Could he digress any further?

"Now, I will not interrupt you. I shall see you next week, Ziva," Eli said, and he again swept off, evil villain style. However, Malachi lingered, and Tony pulled Ziva closer to him. Just because Tony trusted Ziva did not mean that he trusted Malachi to not do something stupid.

"Ziva," Malachi said, "I like the costume." He winked and followed Eli back to the waiting car.

Tony and Ziva waited for the car to drive away.

"Next week? What did he mean by that?" Tony asked, turning to Ziva.

"In a week time I have an assignment in America. I have no idea how long I will be gone, and the probability that I will stay alive is not… great."

They had been avoiding the subject about what happened now, but both of them knew that the talk would have to come. But never had they wanted it like this. But there was not time like the present.

"But I thought your fathe-" Tony started. He had thought that her father no longer had any say in her life, now that she was no longer living with him, and a legal adult.

"Come on Tony," she said, looking away, uncomfortable under his scrutiny, "I cannot live with Jenny forever. I-"

"Then go to university! You have the grades!" Tony cut her off, almost desperate to find a way.

"With what money!" she said in a raised voice.

"Don't go then," Tony said, and Ziva laughed bitterly.

"It doesn't work like that," she said, the silent _but I wish that it did _on the end clear to both of them.

"Do you think that I have not thought about all this! I cannot run away from him forever. I talked to him, and worked something out. It is not perfect, but it is better than I could have hoped for," Ziva continued with her mini monologue.

Tony did not understand. How could any situation in which she was away from her be called "better"?

"What good could he have agreed to?"

"Well…" she said, "he has agreed not to send a team of assassins after you."

"Oh that's jus- Wait, would he have actually done that?" Tony said nervously, and Ziva smiled. By not giving an answer he had what he needed to hear.

"Ah."

Yes. Ah.

"And he has accepted our relationship. And what it may become in the future."

Tony took a moment to process the information.

"Wait, does this mean we have his blessing to get married?" he said, eyes lit up and thrilled the prospect.

"Well, I had not thought about that…" she said.

"Liar."

And Ziva did not argue with him there.

"Was this what you were so distracted about the other day?"

"Yes," Ziva said, "it was always on my mind. I only found out for certain yesterday."

Tony was shocked in some ways, not in others. Here Ziva was, so blatantly stating that she could die. It was a sad and hard truth, one that Tony had not quite accepted. But somewhere, he had always known that Ziva was not a simple and easy person to be with. Easy person to love, but not to be with. Her father was a stupid idiotic *insert swearword here*, who should appreciate his daughter for who she was, not far what she had the capacity for becoming. He should love her just as she was, not if she could do one more lap, or if she got more accurate. That was messed up.

"You said that next week you go, right?" Ziva nodded. "Well that means you have a whole seven days!" he finished.

Ziva smiled as he put it that way. He was her other half, her better half. Whenever she was pessimistic, he was optimistic, whenever she was sad, he made her happy. He put things into perspective for her, her very own realty check. And the amazing thing was that he knew all there was not know about her. And yet he still loved her.

Tony decided that a change in subject was due

"Does Malachi have a death wish?" Tony muttered angrily, more to himself than anyone else. Tony had seen the way that he had followed Ziva's long expanse of tan leg that was on display.

Ziva turned to Tony, knowing that he needed some kind of reassurance to prevent him from being bitter. She rose on her tip-toes, so that her mouth was level with his ear.

"You know that you look really hot when you get jealous?" she murmured softly in his ear. This made Tony raise an eyebrow, and bring his hands up to her face so he could bring her lips to his and seal that statement with an earth-shattering kiss.

oooOOOooo

"I can't believe this is your first last assembly!" Abby rambled as they walked down the twists and turns of the corridors. It seemed like an age since she had looked at the building with awe at the sheer magnitude. Now she could navigate around it with her eyes closed (and that was nothing to do with the constant strange smells being emitted from the home economics room…). In just one year this had become a place where she had learned so much, not academically, but about life. About what love meant. About friendship that was not spawned from placing their lives in each others' hands. About laughing and living and loving.

Just as on that first day a hush fell as they neared the assembly hall, the only sound being the tickling of Mrs Foulds at the old battered piano in the corner. But unlike on her first day, the perfects in those ridiculous school gowns were not just that. They were familiar faces, ones that had shared so many memories and laughs with. Even then one of them stuck their tongue out at her jokily, and Ziva returned the favour. The teachers who she had seen as faces shushing the crowds were familiar, and even as she saw the rows she winked at Dr Mallard, who sent her a charming grin and a wave. There was something different in the air that day. Like the leavers all knew it was the beginning of the end, their last assembly. It was the end of a decade, but the start of an age.

Jenny mounted the podium and hush fell on the already quiet assembly hall.

"Good morning girls. Let us begin with hymn 35."

There was a shuffle as the piano introduction kicked in and hymn books were shuffled to the correct pages. And by the end of the hymn one thing was clear. Never had that hymn been sung with such gusto. But never had the assembly hall held the 2012 leavers.

In the middle of the hymn Ziva felt her inside blazer pocket buzz into life. She put her hand over it to muffle the sound, but among the singing voices nobody noticed. Pulling out her phone she looked down at the screen. Her face broke into a huge grin and she nudged Abby to show her the message.

_You are talking to the newly awarded scholarship holder :D Tony xx_

Ziva grinned widely on Tony's behalf, so happy that he had done it. He was always clever, and now he had the proof.

At the end of the assembly when the whole school got up to leave, Ziva heard a loud call from the back of the sixth-formers.

"THREE CHEERS FOR THE SCHOOL!"

To which the school replied, "HOORAY! HOORAY HOORAY!"

"THREE CHEERS FOR THE STAFF"

"HOORAY! HOORAY HOORAY!"

And then the loudest of all.

"**THREE CHEERS FOR THE HOLIDAYS!"**

"HOORAY! HOORAY HOORAY!"

The sound was loud enough to make the old school walls vibrate with the noise. After that the year thirteens began their chant.

"WE-ARE-YEAR-THIRTEEN! WE ARE YEAR THIRTEEN!"

Yes they were. And the school would not forget them, the mismatch, loud outgoing bunch. Ziva's second family.

_**I said remember this moment**_

_**In the back of my mind**_

_**The time we stood with our shaking hands**_

_**The crowds in stands went wild**_

_**We were the kings and the queens**_

_**And they read off our names**_

_**The night you danced like you knew our lives**_

_**Would never be the same**_

_**You held your head like a hero**_

_**On a history book page**_

_**It was the end of a decade**_

_**But the start of an age**_

_**Long live the walls we crashed through**_

_**While the kingdom lights shined just for me and you**_

_**I was screaming, long live all the magic we made**_

_**And bring on all the pretenders, one day we will be remembered**_

This was it. This was the beginning. This was the end.

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><p><strong><em>da-da! :D let's see, can we get this story over 300 reviews? ;D epilogue will be up VERY SOON :)<em>**


	37. Epilogue

**_so here it is! sorry it was not up sooner, but i edited slightly based on the reviews i got (eg. LivyRox, who wanted more McAbby. here is a LITTLE bit for you :P)_**

**_disclaimer: NCIS=not mine. _**

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><p><strong>Epilogue<strong>

15 years later…

Abby sat on the balcony of their shared apartment that overlooked the crowded city streets. She and Tim had moved over after Abby received a scholarship to John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and they stayed. America seemed to be where they were destined to be, not just her and Timmy, but the others. Now she could visit Kate and Ari, and their ever expanding family. Abby had always known that Kate wanted kids, but Ari being the old fashioned man that he was insisted on marrying her before any "baby-making" was done. So, the year after Abby left school they got married in such a small ceremony that Abby only heard about it the week after (which she was furious about). Now Kate and Ari were happily married, with four children to prove it.

Abby twisted her wedding rings around her finger nervously, waiting McGee (she should have really stopped calling him that, seeing as she was a McGee now to. He had seen to that.). She had news. Big news.

She heard the door opened and bounded down the long hallway of their apartment and straight into Tim's arms.

"Woaahhhhh!" he said, trying to prevent them from toppling over, and both ending up as a heap on the floor.

"TIM!"

"Someone is happy?" Tim said, more as a question, asking her to explain.

"Guess what?" Abby said, bouncing up and down like she was eighteen again.

"What?" he said, humouring her, as he pulled his satchel bag over his head to deposit on the floor, separating them for only a moment before Abby latched onto him once more.

"THE ADOPTION PAPERS CAME THROUGH!" Abby squealed, and Tim's face broke into the biggest grin it could hold.

They had always wanted children, but getting one the conventional way was not the "Abby" thing to do. She wanted to help, wanted to make a difference to the world. She had been volunteering out of her work life to every charitable event that she could make it to; from bowling tournaments to fun runs, to sponsored silences and karaoke nights. So adoption seemed like something that they could do, a life they could change for the better.

"And…" Tim said, hardly containing his excitement. Abby knew what he meant by the sentence, even if he had not been clear to others.

"We meet her on Thursday!"

Tim deposited the hugest kiss on her lips and pulled her into his arms, spinning around and around, laughing and smiling like idiots…

oooOOOooo

Jennifer Sheppard in her house on campus staring out of the window of her office. But instead of the usual scene that lay before her eyes, this one was different. She still worked at the school, and was technically still allowed to live in the headmistress' house. But after she and Gibbs got married, she moved in with him, wanting to start their family home somewhere that she did not have to give up when she retired. However, moving did have its pros, she thought to herself as she watched a much more interesting sight than an empty school field...

Leroy Jethro Gibbs stood in the garden shirtless, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his previously discarded shirt. He leant against the lawnmower, looking out at his masterpiece with great satisfaction. Jenny grinned. He had never really done anything to the garden, until Jenny had pointed out that it looked like a jungle. So, just for her he had decided to tackle the problem that she had addressed.

She opened her window widely, allowing a moment for the cool breeze to caress her skin, the cool salvation from the unusually warm autumn's day. Gibbs turned around hearing the window open, and grinned.

His beautiful wife was leaning out of the window, her hair, now grown long flowing freely down her back as she shook it, releasing it from its ponytail. She was beautiful.

"Is this the part where I recite Shakespeare to you?" he yelled up at her. She rolled her eyes at his sense of humour.

"Do you know any?" she replied.

"""He's here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself,"" Gibbs recited, his characteristic half smile playing on his chiselled features. Even in age, Gibbs had not lost his charming good looks, much to Jenny's delight.

"I am impressed, looks _and _a brain," she teased.

Gibbs laughed, "why thank you Ma'am."

Jenny rolled her eyes and closed the window. That man was going to be the death of her…

oooOOOooo

The autumn air blew the trees as they moved the outstretched arms of the trees, causing them to strike violently against the kitchen windows of the DiNozzo household. The noise that they made however had nothing on the racket that was going on inside the house…

"Dad! Sarah wants to know where her purple T-shirt is," Callum said charging down the stairs of their house. It was a small family house, with three bedrooms and a garden big enough for them and the hypothetical dog that Sarah had been pestering her parents to get.

"How would I know where she put her T-shirt?" Tony asked his son, who rolled his expressive green eyes at him in a very Ziva-like fashion.

"Well maybe if you kids tidied up after yourselves you would be able to find stuff. Your mother is going to have a fit when she gets home…" he said, finishing his bowl of cereal while walking around the kitchen looking for this phantom hairdryer. He dumped his bowl loudly in the sink, and rolled up his sleeves to wash up all the cutlery that had amounted in the sink.

"When she gets home?"

Tony jumped a mile at the voice coming from right behind him. No matter how many years of living with Ziva, he had still never got used to her ninja ways. That added to the fact that he was expecting her until the next day…

Without question he swept her into his arms, and she laughed as he spun her around and around there on the kitchen floor. The kids ran down the stairs to see what all the fuss was about, and when they caught sight of their mum their faces lit up with delight.

"Mummy!"

Tony deposited Ziva on the ground, and she leaned down to the kids' level. Without hesitation they both flung themselves into her arms.

"I thought you weren't coming home until tomorrow?" Callum mumbled, his voice muffled by Ziva's thick hair.

"You want me to come back tomorrow?" she teased.

"NO!" all three DiNozzos said at once, and Ziva grinned at them.

Untangling herself from the mass of small bodies, and picking Sarah up, balancing her on her hip.

"The mission went well. In fact, so well that they are reassigning me," she said smugly.

"Where to?" Tony asked, praying that it would be someplace near their small family home in Washington. After Tony's football career took off, he moved to America for college. Ever since then, he and Ziva had bought a house and called it their own. They were just an hour's drive from Kate and Ari which pleased Ziva immensely, and were far away from any overbearing parents. It was the perfect place to start the family that they were.

"Pretty damn near, actually," Ziva smirked, "ever heard of NCIS?"

**END**


End file.
